IN RE SOUSOUNIS'PETITION
| Decision Date | 18 February 1965 |
| Docket Number | No. 218923.,218923. |
| Parties | In re Petition for Naturalization of Antonios SOUSOUNIS. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
Herbert M. Levy, Philadelphia, Pa., for Immigration & Naturalization Service.
Filindo B. Masino, Philadelphia, Pa., for petitioner.
Before us is the petition of Antonios Sousounis for naturalization which is opposed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service on the ground that petitioner has failed to establish that he has been a person of "good moral character" during the three years preceding the filing of his petition, within the meaning of § 316(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, 8 U.S.C. § 1427(a), as modified by § 319(a) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1430(a).
Petitioner, aged 33 years, is a native and national of Greece, and on March 15, 1956, while unlawfully in the United States and awaiting deportation, petitioner married a native born citizen of the United States. Thereafter, he returned to Greece and thence came back to the United States to which he was lawfully admitted for permanent residence on November 16, 1956. Following his lawful admission, petitioner resided with his wife who bore him two children. The children presently reside with their mother from whom, at the last hearing before the Examiner, petitioner was separated. The petition for naturalization was filed September 14, 1961.
The Examiner's conclusion that petitioner has failed to establish good moral character during the period required by law was based largely on the finding that "petitioner has been involved in extramarital activities with a teen-age girl." There was, however, no finding of any indecent or immoral acts, and no finding of any circumstances to support an inference of such conduct.
Petitioner admittedly associated with this girl, who was fifteen or sixteen years old, from early in 1961 to perhaps the middle of 1962. The evidence is somewhat vague on the point. At any rate, petitioner was living with his wife during this period. He stated that he met the girl once or twice a week "around 52nd Street", that they "just ride around" in his automobile, that they never went to taprooms, or drank. On two occasions, petitioner stated, he took the girl on visits aboard a ship, apparently in company with a member of the crew and another girl. Petitioner stated that he was never alone with the girl. He was corroborated in this by the girl's own statement in the course of an interview, the report of which was made part of the record.
The Examiner further found that petitioner did not voluntarily provide sufficient support for his family at all times. We are not satisfied that the record supports this finding. Difficulties arose between petitioner and his wife, about June 1961, because of petitioner's trip to Greece to see his desperately ill father. Petitioner's account of the support matter, which was uncontradicted, was as follows:
The evidence discloses that the support order was later reduced to $30 per week for the two children, and suspended as to the wife, without prejudice. While there was evidence that petitioner was in arrears in the sum of $80 on June 27, 1963, petitioner denied the arrearage in his testimony before the Examiner on July 29, 1963.
Finally, the Examiner found that petitioner's testimony "was vague and unresponsive and sometimes untruthful." One can gain that impression at first reading. However, repeated readings and thorough study of the record persuade us that much of petitioner's apparent vagueness and evasiveness was the result of language difficulties. We think that, on the whole, and generally speaking, petitioner made an honest effort to understand, and to answer truthfully, the questions propounded to him.
The burden was on petitioner to...
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