Many Louisiana residents and those elsewhere consider being in the United States military an honor. Many servicemembers live their lives outside of the country due to the duties they must carry out. As a result, it is not uncommon for military members to have children born in other countries or to adopt children from other countries. However, the automatic citizenship that these children previously received is now under question due to yet another U.S. immigration law policy change.
According to reports, military members and other federal personnel living abroad may now need to take extra steps to secure citizenship for their children. This policy change has sparked concern and confusion because the rollout of the policy was reportedly not well coordinated. However, officials with the current presidential administration have stated that birthright citizenship would not be affected and that only certain families would face the impacts of the policy.
An official for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services indicated that the children could still become citizens but that different paperwork would be required. Still, some immigration advocates see this policy change as an opportunity for officials to deny citizenship to these children. The policy is slated to affect children born abroad to U.S. citizens after Oct. 29, 2019.
The continual changes to U.S. immigration law cause much confusion and concern. Additional information regarding this particular policy may come soon and hopefully clear up some of the confusion. Nonetheless, Americans living abroad, especially military members, may worry that their children will not automatically become citizens. To gain some perspective, it may be wise for concerned parties to speak with Louisiana immigration law attorneys.
