Musibau Hassan v. Immigration & Naturalization Service

Petitioner Musibau Hassan (“Hassan”) appeals the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (the “Board”), affirming the decision of the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) which denied Hassan’s application for adjustment of status and Hassan’s request for a waiver of grounds of excluda-bility.

I.

Hassan is a twenty-seven year old citizen of Nigeria who entered the United States as a student in 1983. In 1985, Hassan married a United States citizen. In January 1986, following a visit to Nigeria, Has-san was apparently paroled back into the United States for the purpose of applying for adjustment of status. However, Has-san threw away the passport which he used to enter the United States on that occasion.

In January 1986, Hassan was arrested and eventually convicted in Kentucky of one count of theft by deception. Following this conviction, Hassan was placed in exclusion proceedings, and was ultimately ordered excluded and deported from the United States on May 16, 1986.

Hassan reentered the United States on or about August 12, 1988, using a passport bearing a false name. On or about August 29, 1988, Hassan applied for a United States passport using a Kentucky birth certificate bearing a…