Legal Question in Immigration Law in California
Does a child of an illegal immigrant who was born in the US and is now 14 years of age have the right to stay and be raised in the US, and if so does he/she need parental approval?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Under the Fourteenth Amendment �all persons born or naturalized in the United States...are citizens of the United States.� This child, born in the U.S., is accordingly a U.S. Citizens. This however will not mean that the parents of the child will receive lawful resident status as a result. A U.S. citizen child, once he/she turns 21, can petition for his/her parents as immediate relatives however in a case like this the concern is the illegal entry. Accordingly, more information on the parents situation would be needed to see if they qualify for 245i as a manner in which their original unlawful entry could be forgiven through the payment of a penalty fee.