These pictures remind me of a recent discussion I had with a US Immigration supervisor about citizenship. In theory, given the fact that the fence is three feet inside the United States at most places (and about five or six feet in some places) and US citizenship is automatically granted to anyone born on US soil, a pregnant Mexican woman could have her baby lying down between the actual border and the fence and the baby would be a US citizen! This was the question/situation I posed to the immigration boss. His response was as follows: Yes, in theory this might be so; however, a few things would have to be established in order for this to be the case. First, there would have to be physical proof, and basically the only proof they would accept would be video footage together with eyewitnesses. Second, the law actually has two parts. If a person is born on US soil AND within the jurisdiction of the United States he/she can have US citizenship. According to the US Immigration and Naturalization Service, the jurisdiction of US control ends at the fence, not at the actual borderline. I argued that this may be so for everyday functions, but US sovereign control technically goes up to the actual border. He agreed, but said that this would be a case not to be determined by an immigration officer, but rather in a federal court.
So, I left his office with the understanding that a Mexican woman who gives birth to a baby within the narrow strip of US land north of the borderline would have a pretty good court case for claiming that her baby is a US citizen. I don't believe it would take much to argue that, while the fence is an administrative barrier, sovereign JURISDICTION still extends to the borderline. The immigration officer asked me not to spread this word extensively in Mexico!
Can any of you US immigration law experts add any clarification to this situation?
Cheers,
Dallen
Dr. Dallen J. Timothy
PO Box 874905
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ 85287-4905
USA
Tel: (480) 965-7291
Fax: (480) 965-5664
Email: dtimothy@...
Web: http://www.asu.edu/copp/recreation