Jamie Guel-Perales, Velia Ortega De Guel v. Immigration and Naturalization Service

We withheld action on the INS’ petition for rehearing pending the Supreme Court’s decision in Reid v. INS, 420 U.S. 619 , 95 S.Ct. 1164 , 43 L.Ed.2d 501 (1975). We grant the petition for rehearing, withdraw our previous memorandum, and affirm the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals.

In the case at bar, the INS charged petitioners with being deportable under 8 U.S.C. § 1251 (a)(1), on the ground that they were “excludable ... at the time of entry.” It relied upon 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (a)(20), which deals with and makes excludable immigrants “who at the time of application for admission [are] not in possession of a valid unexpired immigrant visa, reentry permit, border crossing identification card, or other valid entry document required by this chapter . . . .” Petitioners entered this country by falsely claiming to be United States citizens.

Reid, supra, is similar to the case at bar, but differs in one important respect. There, the stated ground for deportation was 8 U.S.C. § 1251 (a)(2), that petitioners “entered the United States without inspection.” So far as we can tell, no underlying statute was relied on in Reid . In the case at bar, as in Reid , petitioners…