Reading Room Document

Does a single incident involving the transportation of a narcotic drug (heroin) as part of an unlawful scheme to resell it for gain make the carrier an illicit trafficker within the meaning of Section 212(a)(23) of the Immigration and Nationality Act?

The document is a letter from the Attorney General responding to a request for an opinion on whether a single resident involved in the transportation of a narcotic drug as part of an unlawful scheme to resell it would be considered an illicit trafficker within the meaning of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Attorney General concludes that a single act of conscious participation in illicit narcotic traffic would subject an alien to exclusion as an illicit trafficker. The letter also discusses the statutory construction of the term "illicit trafficker" and provides the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization's views on the inquiry.

May 25, 1965