The BIA held that a person who enters the United States using a passport obtained after lying about being a United States citizen has not been “admitted” for immigration law purposes, and a conviction for lying to the State Department to receive a passport is a crime involving moral turpitude. Matter of Pinzon, 26 I&N Dec. 189 (BIA 2013) (Grant, Malphrus, and Mullane, Board members). Board member Grant wrote the panel’s decision.

The Board reaffirmed its precedent from the Matter of Areguillin in the Matter of Quilantan, 25 I&N Dec. 285 (BIA 2010) where it held that admission refers to procedural regularity rather than whether the applicant for admission was actually admissible. The BIA limited the Matter of Quilantan in the Matter of Pinzon, 26 I&N Dec. 189 (BIA 2013) where it held that an alien who gained entry by making a false claim of citizenship had not been admitted. This is because immigration officers do not have the authority to inspect U.S. citizens.

The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) recently held in Matter of Pinzon, 26 I&N Dec. 189 (BIA 2013), that convictions under 18 USC § 1001(a)(2) for “knowingly and willfully making any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation” are Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude (CIMT). The holding overturns two other BIA cases, Matter of G-, 8 I&N Dec. 315, 316 (BIA 1959), and Matter of Espinosa, 10 I&N Dec. 98, 99 (BIA 1962), which both held that convictions under this statute were not CIMTs.