Court: Applicants wrongly denied US citizenship

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — For more than two decades, Sigifredo Saldana Iracheta insisted he was a U.S. citizen, repeatedly explaining to immigration officials that he was born to an American father and a Mexican mother in a city just south of the Texas border.

Year after year, the federal government rejected his claims, deporting him at least four times and at one point detaining him for nearly two years as he sought permission to join his wife and three children in South Texas.

In rejecting Saldana's bid for citizenship, the government sought to apply an old law that cited Article 314 of the Mexican Constitution, which supposedly dealt with legitimizing out-of-wedlock births. But there was a problem: The Mexican Constitution has no such article.

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clownboy said:

There's a bit more to the issue. He doesn't automatically gain citizenship just because his father was a citizen. He must apply for it. True, once you apply, the process is much easier than other forms of immigration and is almost always accepted, but you must apply BEFORE entry (or at least have entered and be here legally). I know, I had to go through this process with my ex-wife.

The OP doesn't say how he came here in the first place. It hints that he was here illegally and then when caught out applied.

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danarhea said:

Yup, you read the article right. He was denied US citizenship on the basis of a Mexican law that never existed. Here's the deal. He may have been born south of the border, but one of his parents was an American citizen. That makes him an American citizen by birth. There can be many reasons to deport someone, but citing a law that never existed? That is just plain stupid. But this is the government. What else would you expect? LOL.

Article is here.

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DiAnna said:

That's unacceptable. I am stridently pro-border control, anti-illegal immigration, but anyone with a parent who is a American should by law automatically have American citizenship. This is so wrong. I hope he wins his battle.

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