Salvadoran Denied Naturalization Over Pot Dispensary Job

As discussed in this Immigrant Legal Resource Center briefing, noncitizens involved in the legal marijuana industry do so at some immigration risk.  Although marijuana has been legalized in many states, it remains illegal under federal law.

Katryna Perera for Law360 ( Listen to article) reports that a D.C. federal judge has ruled that a Salvadoran’s  naturalization petition was properly denied because she distributes marijuana as co-owner of a state-licensed dispensary.

Maria Elena Reimers, a citizen of El Salvador, had sued U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services after the agency denied her application for naturalization on the ground that as the co-owner of a marijuana dispensary made her an “illicit trafficker of a controlled substance.”

In her order issued earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson denied Reimers’ motion for summary judgment and granted a cross-motion from USCIS.

KJ