Courts to review US immigration law favouring US mothers over US fathers
March 23 2010 by Liam Clifford
Changes set to take place for certain types of US visas.
There could soon be changes to the way US visas are granted
to people born outside of the US but who have one American parent. A test case
is shortly to be heard in the US Supreme Court which will challenge the aspect
of the law which makes it easier for a person with an American parent to become
a US citizen when that parent is the mother.
Ruben Flores-Villar was born
in Mexico and has an American father who raised him in the San Diego area.
Flores-Villar applied for US citizenship in 2006 when he was facing criminal
charges of being an illegal immigrant and his US visa request was rejected.
According to current US immigration law, American fathers of children
born before 1986 must have lived in the US for at least ten years – five of
which must have been after the age of 14. Given that Flores-Villar’s father was
only 16 when his son was born, he is not able to fulfil that criteria. By
contrast, American mothers need only to have lived in the country for one
continuous year before giving birth in order for their children to qualify for
American citizenship.
A child born in the United States, regardless of
the parents' nationality, is a US citizen, as is a child born abroad to two
American citizens. The complexity arises when the child is born outside of the
US and only one parent is an American citizen.
The Supreme Court has
agreed to hear Flores-Villar's case in the Autumn, which will argue that current
US immigration law unfairly discriminates on the basis of gender.
See the latest Immigration News
