Citizenship for Children of Military Members and Civil Servants Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4803, the Citizenship for Children of Military Members and Civil Servants Act.

Most people believe that, in all circumstances, as long as one parent is a U.S. citizen, a child is automatically a U.S. citizen. In reality, the Immigration and Nationality Act lays out specific residency, physical presence, and other requirements for when a child is deemed a U.S. citizen and what procedures a parent must go through to claim that citizenship.

For instance, section 320 of the INA requires that a child of a U.S. citizen automatically becomes a U.S. citizen if the child is under the age of 18 and is ``residing in the United States in the legal and physical custody of the citizen pursuant to a lawful admission for permanent residence.''

This creates a problem for some U.S. citizens and their families who are serving overseas in the military or other U.S. Government positions and who cannot return to the United States.

Until very recently, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS, had been interpreting the term ``residing in'' to cover children of U.S. citizen government employees or members of the U.S. Armed Forces who were employed or stationed outside the U.S. That interpretation, however, was inconsistent with other parts of the INA and inconsistent, even, with the State Department's interpretation.

Thus, there were instances when a U.S. citizen parent was told by USCIS that their child was automatically a U.S. citizen, but when the parent tried to obtain a U.S. passport for the child, they were told that the child was not yet a U.S. citizen because the proper process had not been followed.

In late August, USCIS issued policy guidance aimed at correctly interpreting ``residing in'' to be consistent with the INA and the State Department's interpretation.

It should be noted that, even if H.R. 4803 is not enacted, the children affected by USCIS' new guidance will still be able to claim U.S. citizenship; however, their families will have to jump through many more hoops to do so.

Luckily, this issue affects fewer than 100 families per year, most of whom are cases of adoption or where the child is a teenager when the parent naturalizes.

USCIS was legally correct to do what it did, but we in Congress are also right to make the technical change that allows the affected child to be automatically considered a U.S. citizen.

The committee ranking member worked closely with Chairman Nadler to craft H.R. 4803. The bill deems the child of a U.S. citizen parent to be in compliance with the residence requirements of INA section 320 in circumstances where: one, the U.S. citizen parent is an employee of the U.S. Government stationed abroad or a spouse of that employee residing abroad with that employee; or, two, the U.S. citizen parent is a member of the Armed Forces stationed abroad or spouse of that member residing abroad with that member, and the child is authorized to and is accompanying the member.

The bill ensures that children of U.S. Armed Forces members and U.S. Government personnel are not disadvantaged merely because their parents' service to our country requires them to be deployed abroad.

I am pleased that the legislative process worked as it should, that Republicans and Democrats saw a legal issue that needed to be fixed and we worked together to pass the affecting legislation.

I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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