Immigration Work Status. Mohammad Hashmi, a citizen of Pakistan, entered the United States in 2002 on a student visa.

Two years later, when he applied for a job at CompuCredit, he completed an I-9 form and checked the box to indicate that he was “a citizen or national of the United States.” Soon after submitting that form, he married a U.S. citizen. Several months later, the federal immigration services claimed that he had misrepresented himself as a U.S. citizen. Hashmi contended that he had not misrepresented himself. At an administrative hearing, he testifi ed that when he fi lled out the I-9 form he believed that he was a “national of the United States”

because he was legally in the country under a student visa and was going to marry a U.S. citizen. He requested that his immigration status be adjusted to account for the fact that he was employed and married to an American. The immigration judge rejected that request and found that Hashmi had made a false claim on the I-9 form. He ruled that Hashmi was

“inadmissible” to the United States and that his legal status in the country could not be amended because of his marriage or employment. Hashmi appealed. Do you think it was reasonable for Hashmi to think he was a U.S. national? Should his visa status be changed because of his marriage and employment?

Why or why not? [Hashmi v. Mukasey, 533 F.3d 700

(8th Cir. 2008)]