An appeals court ruled Friday that a New York man who thought he was a U.S. citizen is not because his parents never “legitimated” him.
July Rafael Bueno Gil was born in the Dominican Republic and admitted to the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident. His parents never married, and Gil said he gained U.S. citizenship at 11 years old when his father was naturalized in 1980, through what is called “derivative citzenship.” Gil then received a Certificate of Citizenship based on his father’s naturalization.
Gil was convicted of first-degree robbery in 1987 and a controlled substance offense in 1995. In 2010, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services decided that Gil’s Certificate of Citizenship was “unlawfully or fraudulently” obtained because he was not a qualifying “child” under the Immigration and Nationality Act’s requirements for derivative citizenship. The Department of Homeland Security then began deportation proceedings against Gil.
Gil’s reason for not qualifying as a “child” involved his parents’ decision not to get married.
“The statute “make[s] clear, for derivative citizenship purposes, [that] a person born out of wedlock is considered a ‘child’ of his United States citizen parent or parents only if he was ‘legitimated’ under the law of his own residence or domicile (or that of his father) before turning 16,” the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals wrote.
The court decided that Gil was not legitimated before turning 16 and therefore ineligible for citizenship through his father’s naturalization. As a result, the federal appeals court denied his motion to end deportation proceedings.
