Timeline for Does 8 USC §1409(a) grant citizenship or take away citizenship?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
11 events
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| Dec 10, 2022 at 18:09 | comment | added | Brian | ... But, of course, such a deported person could still satisfy the condition at a later time prior to turning 18, at which point they would be able to return to the US as a citizen. The prior deportation would cease to have any relevance. | |
| Dec 10, 2022 at 18:07 | comment | added | Brian | I agree, but if the father hasn't agreed to provide financial support in writing yet, I don't think "he still might do it before I turn 18" is a valid defense. I think the immigration judge would simply rule that the person is an alien and order them deported. | |
| Dec 10, 2022 at 17:50 | comment | added | ohwilleke | @Brian Citizenship could be raised as a defense in a deportation action if any conditions could be established then. | |
| Dec 10, 2022 at 16:37 | comment | added | Brian | I think the "Schrödinger's cat" interpretation is a bit problematic. If a person truly is indeterminately both a citizen and a noncitizen, then I think they can't be deported (though they could of course be deported upon turning 18 if the wave function collapses to "noncitizen"). Do you claim that this is the case? | |
| Dec 10, 2022 at 14:31 | comment | added | Brian | @Kevin it sounds like you agree with my first interpretation then. The person is actually an alien until the conditions are met, but then they're granted citizenship retroactively to birth. | |
| Dec 10, 2022 at 9:43 | comment | added | Kevin | @Brian: Another way to think about this: Congress told the Supreme Court to pretend we have a time machine, just for the purposes of evaluating this statute. When 1409(a) is satisfied, the law hops in its metaphorical DeLorean and says "now I'm going to change the past, so you were always a citizen." | |
| Dec 10, 2022 at 9:32 | comment | added | Cadence | The key seems to be that citizenship was established the day you were born to a US citizen father, not the day someone proved you were born to a US citizen father. | |
| Dec 9, 2022 at 22:16 | comment | added | ohwilleke | @Brian In theory, (1) is never the case, and (2) is also never the case. “Brian laughed. 'There's no use trying,' he said. 'One can't believe impossible things.' I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said Congress. 'When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.'” (with apologies to Lewis Carroll). | |
| Dec 9, 2022 at 22:15 | history | edited | ohwilleke | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Dec 9, 2022 at 22:02 | comment | added | Brian | I should have been a bit more clear. My question was whether, (1) upon fulfillment of the conditions in 1409(a), the person becomes a citizen when they previously were an alien, or (2) citizenship is already granted by 1401(g) and then 1409(a) takes it away on the child's 18th birthday if the conditions aren't met. However, if I understand your answer correctly, you're saying that it's neither (or both). | |
| Dec 9, 2022 at 21:58 | history | answered | ohwilleke | CC BY-SA 4.0 |