California Immigration Attorney Blog

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide if mothers and fathers may be treated differently in determining whether a child can claim American citizenship, the New York Times reported.

As Los Angeles immigration attorneys, we are monitoring this case closely; few claims to U.S. citizenship have been as strong as being the child of a U.S. citizen. But, as debate over immigration continues to grow, so do the efforts being made by immigration foes to erect obstacles to citizenship.

This case involves Ruben Flores-Villar, who was born in Tijuana, Mexico but was raised by his father and mother in San Diego. His mother is Mexican and his parents were not married.

In attempting to avoid deportation, Mr. Flores-Villar claimed American citzenship. However, the 9th District Court of Appeals in San Francisco rejected that claim under a law that outlined different requirements for mothers and fathers whose children were born abroad and out of wedlock to a partner who was not a U.S. citizen.

The law permitted fathers to transmit citizenship only if the father had lived in the United States for 10 years before the child's birth and for at least five years after the age of 14. Mothers are only required to have lived in the United States for a year before a child's birth.

Mr. Flores-Villar's father was only 16 when his son was born -- making it impossible to fulfill the 5-year residency requirement past the age of 14. He argues that the different treatment for men and women violated equal-protection principals.

In 2001, the Supreme Court upheld a law that posed different requirements in a similar situation; a divided court ruled that American fathers of children born out of wedlock abroad had to obtain a court order establishing paternity or swear under oath to obtain citizenship for a child. Mothers were not subjected to the same requirement.

Changes to the U.S. immigration law in 1986 reduced the residency time of fathers to 5 years, only two of which must be after age 14. However, Flores-Villar was subjected to the law as it stood at his birth and has been fighting for his legal rights since being threatened with deportation in 2006.