Civil rights groups urged lawmakers to pass the Equal Citizenship for Children Act

Civil rights groups urged lawmakers to pass the Equal Citizenship for Children Act

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On September 26, immigrants’ rights advocates were at the Capitol to meet with members of U.S. Congress and their staff, garnering support for the Equal Citizenship for Children Act (“ECCA"). The law would more fully repair the harm of the Guyer Rule, a 1940s-era racially discriminatory law that prevented U.S.-citizen fathers from passing their citizenship status to children born outside of the U.S. and outside of marriage. Lead organizations included CASA, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice-AAJC.

 

The ECCA would fill a gap in existing law that was partially addressed by the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. 

 

The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 changed the law to allow U.S.-citizen fathers with custody of their children to transmit citizenship to their children living in the U.S., regardless of whether the parents were married. However, the law excluded children who had already turned 18 years old when the Child Citizenship Act took effect on Feb. 27, 2001. For this reason, thousands of children of U.S. citizens lack citizenship and are still vulnerable to deportation.

 

Alma Bowman, 57, is advocating for Congress to pass the ECCA. She was born in the Philippines to a Philippine citizen mother and a U.S. citizen father and has lived in Macon, Georgia for almost her entire life. Bowman spent 40 months in immigration detention and could be deported, despite being the child of a U.S. citizen. “For 50 years, I considered myself an American citizen until August 2017, when the things that I took for granted were taken away from me–my freedom, having a job, having a driver's license, and having insurance so I can take care of my chronic illnesses and be able to afford medical treatment and medications,” Bowman said. “If the ECCA passes, it will help keep my family together.”

 

The ECCA would ensure that non-marital children and intercountry adoptees may acquire U.S. citizenship through their custodial or adoptive parent, regardless of the parent’s gender. It would also allow children conceived with assisted reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), to acquire citizenship through either parent who is recognized as a legal parent. 

 

“We estimate that there are between 50,000 and 75,000 eligible individuals who would benefit from the ECCA,” said Meredyth Yoon on behalf of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice affiliation, which is made up of four independent organizations who have been advocating for the legislation since it was introduced by Representative Yvette Clark (D-NY) and Representative Alma Adams (D-NC) in March 2023. “The ECCA needs to pass in order to fill the gaping hole left behind by the Citizenship for Children Act of 2000.”

 

“The Guyer Rule is connected with the history of U.S. military bases abroad. The practice of barring U.S. citizenship from passing between fathers and their children if a child’s parents are unmarried has perpetuated harmful gender stereotypes and had racially discriminatory impacts for people in the U.S. and abroad today,” said Samantha Hamilton with Malaya Movement Georgia, an organization that has been supporting Bowman as she navigates her immigration case.

 

"As an organization serving immigrant families in Georgia, we have seen the effects of the Guyer Rule firsthand,” says Luis Zaldivar, Georgia State Director for CASA. ”Families are separated, children are left in limbo, and lives are upended. The ECCA offers a path to healing and reunification. It’s a compassionate and just solution that recognizes the fundamental human right of every child to belong. We urge Congress to pass this legislation and bring hope to countless families.” 

 

"The ECCA is an important step towards rectifying decades of injustice, not only combating an insidious form of gender inequality, but also remedying clear racial discrimination in our citizenship laws, and ensuring that all children of U.S. citizens receive the protection and recognition they deserve," said Amber Qureshi, staff attorney at the National Immigration Project.

 

“The Equal Citizenship for Children Act is an important and crucial bill that would fulfill our country’s long standing commitment to family unity,” said the Immigration Hub. This bill would ensure that all children of U.S. citizens or subsequently naturalized citizens, no matter where or when they were born, are provided their right to citizenship and the ability to continue to live, contribute, and prosper in America. The ECCA is a much needed solution to a historical injustice that underscores the fundamental right for families to prosper and be together.”