Who Would Be Affected By Trump’s New Citizenship Policy For Children Born Overseas? – TheNigerialawyer

By Camilo Montoya-Galvez

A proposed update by the Trump administration to the manual used
by immigration caseworkers would make it more burdensome and
expensive for certain U.S. service members and government employees
working abroad to ensure that their children secure U.S.
citizenship.

The change by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS),
announced Wednesday and slated to take effect in late October, was
unexpected for many, prompting widespread confusion and scathing
criticism from those who believed it represented an effort to
categorically deny birthright citizenship — a bedrock of U.S. law
President Trump has long opposed — to children of U.S. troops and
government staff stationed overseas.

However, in a call with reporters on Thursday, a USCIS official
framed the change as very limited in scope, saying it would affect
only a “handful” of people. Over the past five years, there have
been between 20 and 25 cases per year that would’ve been
potentially affected by it, the official said.

“The idea that this policy negatively impacts or takes anything
away from (troops) is absolute incorrect,” the official said. “It
bears repeating that this affects a very small population of
individuals and they have another means of obtaining citizenship
for their children.”

What is changing under the new policy?
Children born outside of the country to a U.S. citizen parent or
parents may acquire U.S. citizenship at birth through the
Immigration and Nationality Act, the foundation of U.S. immigration
law, as long as the parents meet certain requirements.

But there are also other ways for children born overseas to
acquire citizenship after birth — before they turn 18. For
instance, children born abroad who hold green cards, and have
parents who are U.S. citizens, may become U.S. citizens as
well.

These children acquire citizenship through an administrative
process that would be affected by this policy change, according to
the USCIS official. Previous USCIS policy said these children born
and living overseas were considered “residing” in the U.S. for the
purposes of acquiring citizenship. The official said this would be
scrapped from the guidelines.

The agency said the change is designed to align USCIS procedures
with the ones the State Department uses to issue passports to these
children overseas.

Who would be affected by this change?

The official provided three examples of children who would be
affected by the rule.

• If a child born abroad who is not a green card holder is
  adopted by U.S. citizen parents, that child under the new policy
  will no longer automatically be granted citizenship.
• The change would also affect children of non-citizens, U.S.
  service members or government employees who naturalize — that is,
  who become citizens themselves — after the child’s birth.
• Additionally, a child born abroad to two U.S. citizens who do
  not meet the U.S. residence requirements under existing law to
  transmit citizenship to their children would be affected.

Can these children still become U.S.
citizens?

Children affected by these new guidelines will still have the
following pathways to U.S. citizenship, according to USCIS:

• The child can become a green card holder, move back to the U.S.
  and live there with his or her parents. This is what would count as
  “residing” in the U.S. for the purposes of acquiring U.S.
  citizenship.
• The child can also become a citizen while still abroad if the
  U.S. citizen parent or parents apply for citizenship on their
  child’s behalf under a different section of immigration law.

Under one of the requirements of the second option, the families
would need to travel to the U.S. and have the children take an oath
of citizenship. However, the USCIS official said military family
members are authorized under U.S. law to process the entire
application overseas, including the giving of the oath to their
children.

How big an impact will this have on affected
families?

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Margaret Stock, who taught
constitutional, military and national security law at the Army
academy at West Point for nine years, said the change will make it
more difficult for certain troops and government staff — like
diplomatic officers and missionaries — to secure American
citizenship for their children born abroad.

“This is good for immigration lawyers, because they’re just
going to have to hire one now,” Stock told CBS News, referring to
those U.S. troops and government employees who would be affected by
the change. “It dramatically increases the cost of getting U.S.
citizenship for your child.”

To go around or conform to the new guidelines, Stock said she
expects some families to opt to have their children in the U.S. and
families who have already had children overseas to relocate to the
U.S.

In the scenario where the spouse of a U.S. service member or
government employee stationed abroad is pregnant, Stock said many
couples could conclude, with the advice of their lawyers, that
coming back to the U.S. and having the baby in a hospital there
would be the safest option under the policy change.

“If you are think strategically, you’re going to be like ‘okay,
they changed the rule, my kid is not going to be a citizen if my
kid is born overseas. So let me fly my pregnant wife back to
America, and she’ll have the baby here,’” she said. “Or if the baby
is born overseas, they’re going to ask to be reassigned to the
United States, because they can’t do everything overseas
anymore.’”

Stock, who has been representing military families in
immigration proceedings since she retired from her decades-long
career in the military, cited another example based on her
experience representing the family of a U.S. service member
stationed in Kuwait. The U.S. service member married a non-citizen
who already had a child.

Under current policy, Stock said the U.S. service member could
sponsor his wife to become a U.S. green card holder. She would
activate her green card by traveling to the U.S. and then she could
apply and acquire U.S. citizenship, which would automatically
confer citizenship on her child.

But once the new policy is implemented, the child would no
longer automatically derive citizenship from the mother when she
becomes a citizen because the government
would determine that the child had not
resided in the U.S.

“So, when I had this case come up a couple months ago and this
new memo came out, what I told the client was ‘don’t let your wife
and kid live with you in Kuwait, send them to America — and then
everything will be okay,’” Stock said.

“This discourages people”Stock said the
ramifications of the policy change are nuanced. As a result of that
nuance, which is likely to cause confusion and concern among those
serving in the military or working for the government, she said
couples could opt to take a safer option.

“This discourages people from wanting to work for the government
overseas, because you’re going to hurt yourself and your family if
you that,” she added.

First published on August
29, 2019 / 7:27 PM  Culled  from CBS
Interactive Inc.

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