The US top court’s decision to strike down President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship has brought relief to thousands of Indian families living in the country.
About 5.2
million to 5.4 million people of Indian origin are currently residing in the United States. Any change to birthright citizenship rules would have directly affected many of these families planning to have children while living in the United States.
Can A Child Born To Indian Parents In US Still Get US Citizenship?
Birthright citizenship is a 160-year-old practice of granting citizenship to anyone born on American soil, enshrined in the Constitution by the 14th Amendment.
A significant number of Indian professionals work in the US on H-1B visas, particularly in the technology, engineering, healthcare, and finance sectors.
Under the current interpretation of the 14th Amendment, a child born in the United States is generally considered a US citizen regardless of whether the parents are H-1B workers, students, temporary visa holders, Green-card holders, or Non-US citizens.
Trump’s executive order sought to end automatic US citizenship for children born to parents who were in the United States illegally or on temporary visas, including H-1B workers.
The Supreme Court’s ruling is a significant setback for efforts to restrict birthright citizenship through executive action.
Had the court allowed Trump’s executive order to continue, those born to parents who are undocumented would also have been considered unlawful residents, thus increasing the undocumented population.
The latest court’s ruling means that children born in the US to these families continue to qualify for American citizenship at birth.
However, citizenship does not extend to the parents. Parents on H-1B or other temporary visas must continue to maintain their own legal immigration status independently.
Under US immigration law, a US citizen child cannot sponsor a parent for permanent residency until turning 21 years old.
