IMMIGRATION: US citizen husband is considered ‘parent’ of wife’s extramarital child, entitling that child to US citizenship

On August 13, 2018, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which is just below the US Supreme Court, saved a person from deportation by concluding his “father” was a US citizen at the time of his birth, even though his mother had cheated, and the US citizen was not his biological father. The court ultimately ruled that “a child born into a lawful marriage is the lawful child of those parents, regardless of the existence or nonexistence of any biological link.”

There may be many children who may not necessarily be the biological child of a US citizen, but if they were born during the marriage, they would still be considered the US citizen’s “child” and might be eligible for US citizenship.

In that case, the person was born outside the US in 1972. His mother was married to a man who became a US citizen in 1961, which was before the person’s birth. Apparently, during the marriage, his mother cheated, and had an extramarital affair with a different man, who was even listed as the person’s father. (Apparently, the US citizen husband was very forgiving, as the couple had seven children together and remain married for 47 years, until the US citizen died in 1999.)

In its ruling, the court pointed out that the law in effect when the person was born did not define the word “parent.” Under ordinary or common law meaning, a child born into a lawful marriage is the lawful child of both parents, whether or not there is a biological and blood linkage. There was no requirement in the law when this person was born that the US citizen be a biological parent to transmit citizenship. In other words, “a child born into a legal marriage is presumed to be the child of the marriage.”