The Supreme Court issued a per curiam opinion this week in Flores-Villar v. United States, a case that raised the issue once again of distinctions in the citizenship rights of children born abroad to unmarried U.S.
New Attention to Child Sex Trade in Immigrant Communities
This story in the New York Times reports on new programs in Oakland, California taking a public health approach to working with children from immigrant communities forced or recruited into prostitution. See Patricia Leigh Brown ”In Oakland, Redefining Sex Trade workers as Abuse Victims” (May 23, 2011). The story notes that “[a]n estimated 100,000 to 300,000 American-born children are sold for sex each year.”
DOMA, Immigration Law and Bi-National Couples
In late February, the Obama Adminsitration announced that it would no longer defend the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in litigation pending in several courts. (See Charlie Savage and Sheryl Gay Stolberg, In Shift, U.S. Says Marriage Act Blocks Civil Rights, NY Times Feb. 23, 2011).
More on Pregnancy Tourism
This story in the New York Times reports that local officials recently closed a home for maternity tourists in San Gabriel, California. See Jennifer Medina, Arriving as Pregnant Tourists, Leaving with American Babies (March 28, 2011).
Pregnancy Tourism?
Last fall, Rob Gifford of NPR reported on a trend among upper-class pregnant women in mainland China who are traveling to the United States to give birth so that their children would have the advantage of U.S. citizenship. See “Born in the U.S.A.? Some Chinese Plan It That Way.”
Dream Act Fails, Birthright Citizenship in Dispute
In the final days of the last congressional session, Senators supporting the Dream Act were five votes short of the number needed to block a filibuster. The bill, which passed the House in early December, would have opened the possibility of citizenship for young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S.
Investigating Adoptions in Vietnam
Looking behind the current U.S. moratorium on adoption from Vietnam, Foreign Policy has published Anatomy of an Adoption Crisis by E.J.
Supreme Court Term Begins Today
As the Supreme Court begins its 2011 term, its docket includes Flores-Villar v. United States, docket no. 09-5801, a case challenging citizenship laws that distinguish between the nonmarital children of U.S.
Ruling on Asylum in Domestic Violence Case
Julia Preston reports in the New York Times on a recent case that clarifies the legal standard for asylum in domestic violence cases. See Asylum Granted to Mexican Woman in Case Setting Standard on Domestic Abuse (NYT 8/12/10).
CIS and the Sham Marriage Question
Nina Bernstein has a series of articles this weekend in the New York Times, available online with this link to the agency fraud worksheet used by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and a blog item titled: Could Your Marriage Pass the Test? She reports that of 20,507 petitions filed in the last fiscal year by U.S.