Tariq Hamid v. U. S. Immigration and Naturalization Service

Hamid appeals from an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals affirming the decision of an immigration judge who denied his application for adjustment of status to permanent resident and found that petitioner was excludable pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (a)(23). We affirm the order of the Board.

Petitioner, a citizen of Pakistan, initially entered the United States in 1956 as a student and remained until 1966 when he returned to Pakistan. In 1968 he reentered this country and shortly thereafter married an American citizen. Subsequently, he applied for an adjustment of status to permanent resident in light of his marriage. It is the denial of this application which petitioner appeals.

An alien seeking to adjust his status from non-immigrant to that of permanent resident is assimilated to the position of an applicant for entry. Campos v. I. N. S., 402 F.2d 758, 760 (9th Cir. 1968). Under the circumstances, the INS determined that the petitioner was excludable pursuant to the provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1182 which reads in pertinent part:

The determination that the petitioner had been “an illicit trafficker” in drugs was based primarily on the statements of one Smith who had met…