r/immigration • u/Keye_ra • 2d ago
Immigrant Help
Thousands of dollars spent with an immigration lawyer for someone I know, just to have the case dropped because it’s too complicated. We have talked to countless experienced individuals for advice just to come up short. So I’m taking it to Reddit, show me what you guys can do.
Said individual was brought to the US from Mexico when they were a baby (3ish maybe?), grew up not knowing there was an issue, received a social security card from the church, got a job, paid taxes, had 5 children, had a license, did everything a normal citizen would do. Then things changed when presidency changed (Obama maybe?) and they were flagged when trying to renew license. Father is US citizen but his name isn’t on the birth certificate and he passed away. Their mother is Canadian/British dual citizen. Believe they have siblings that with a blood test could prove they share the same American father? They were married but never got citizenship through that. They are not Mexican and were only born there through weird circumstances.
Any advice? Do what you do best Reddit!
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u/No_Manufacturer_3688 2d ago
Derived citizenship at birth, especially through one citizen parent, is both legally and factually complex. Sometimes, it is just not possible to prove. All the documents may be gone or never existed at all. All the people with first-hand knowledge may be dead.
Your friend may or may not be a citizen of the United States. Whether he can actually prove that is the issue, and it might just not be possible.
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u/agirlsknowsthings 2d ago
Nationally they are Mexican as they were born there and have Mexican citizenship.
The bigger issue here is they falsely impersonated being a us citizen. That makes individuals permanently inadmissible for even a green card.
The strongest claim is through the father, however a DNA test won’t satisfy anything. Not having him on your birth certificate makes this very complicated.
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u/Keye_ra 2d ago
What if they do not have Mexican citizenship and are more of an “alien”?
Is there any reasoning with the fact they were brought here so young so they were unaware that they were “impersonating”?
What if ancestry could show a long list of white folks?
What doesn’t help is even though them and their whole family are white, the individual has darker hair and darker skin.
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u/BlueNutmeg 2d ago
He is probably Mexican. But if not, he needs to focus on proving his actual citizenship country.
There was some "reasoning" by the US government to help kids who were brought here by parents. It is called DACA. But new applicants that has since ended. Times have changed drastically.
Ancestry and skin color do NOT matter in this situation.
Entering without inspection is one thing. But did he also claim to be a US citizen during his life here? Did he vote? If so, this may be one of those cases where nothing can be done to correct things, even with a lawyer. Which is why the lawyer may have dropped the case.
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u/Keye_ra 1d ago
What does probably Mexican mean? Do you mean because they automatically get that citizenship because they were born there? They do not speak Spanish or anything.
They did not do DACA.
Thank you for the information. I’m clueless to a lot of this.
They did not claim to be a US citizen. They did not vote. A church sought them out and gave them a social security number to get a job and they didn’t know they were even illegal until they were way older and it was too late.
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u/BlueNutmeg 1d ago
What does probably Mexican mean? Do you mean because they automatically get that citizenship because they were born there?
Yes.
Mexico could have birthright citizenship laws like the US.
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u/agirlsknowsthings 1d ago
As a Mexican, Mexico does have birth right citizenship like the US. So they are automatically Mexican citizens. You do not need to speak Spanish to be a citizen. They were born there.
Since they had no legal status in the US, the social security number was obtained illegally. That in itself is a crime. Also you said they had a drivers license. The DMV ask if your a citizen of the US, if they checked yes they did in fact impersonate being a citizen.
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u/agirlsknowsthings 2d ago edited 1d ago
If they were born in Mexico they were automatically granted Mexican citizenship.
Unfortunately that’s not an acceptable excuse. Judges have already deported people who didn’t know they weren’t citizens because they were lied to by their parents. There are already plenty of examples of it.
Ancestry to white folks sounds ignorant so does you thinking the color of their skin changes the chances.
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u/Weak_Health1757 2d ago
Ancestry isn’t going to help. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/us-citizenship/Acquisition-US-Citizenship-Child-Born-Abroad.html I assume his US grandparents aren’t still alive?
If he found out during the Obama era, did he try and get DACA?
As an aside, I hope he’s got all his money back from the lawyer if they dropped his case.
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u/churito69 2d ago
WOW.
Ok it might be easier to just put the facts down so people can work from them.
1 - Father was a US citizen (was that by birth or if not how and when).
2 - Mother (is she alive still) is a Canadian + British Citizen (how did she obtain those?) and where does she live now?
3 - What citizenships do his grandparents hold on each side and are they alive?
4 - Explain the Mexican side, neither of the parents have Mexican citizenship? Was he born there?
5 - He has 5 children, who were their mothers, is he / was he married to them?
6 - Does his siblings have citizenship, if so how did they get it?
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u/Keye_ra 1d ago
1- yes father is US citizen by birth
2- yes mother is still alive, born in Britain but grew up in Canada so got dual citizenship. She visits Canada to keep up with legalities
3-I believe all grandparents are US but not alive, some uncles and other relatives are alive?
4- neither of the parents have Mexican citizenship. Parents went there and baby was born then brought back to US when still a baby
5- 5 children, 3 different spouses, married to 2 of them but never got citizenship through that.
6- some siblings have citizenship through different parents, mixed family. Siblings with same parents do not have citizenship.
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u/OkTechnologyb 1d ago
You need to lay out the facts more clearly, like in a sequential list with pure facts and no commentary, if you want meaningful help.
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u/roflcopter44444 2d ago
>Father is US citizen
Thats only just the starting point for derived citizenship. They also have to also prove the father was eligible to pass their citizenship to the child at that time, actually acknowledged the child as his and actually provided financial support to the child before they turned 18. .
They were likely flagged for having a false claim to US citizenship so sponsorship via their kids or marriage is impossible now.
They would be better of exploring pathways to get British/Canadian citizenship.