Jesus Roberto Arias-Uribe v. Immigration and Naturalization Service

The sole question presented on this petition to review a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals is whether an alien who has been rendered deportable by reason of his conviction for a narcotics offense is entitled to seek, in a deportation proceeding, advance permission to re-enter the United States pursuant to the provisions of § 212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(c).

Petitioner is a Mexican citizen who has lived continuously in the United States as a permanent resident alien since 1954. In 1969, shortly after he was convicted in a state court for…