Pregnant woman wants re-entry to U.S., lawyers say fetus is citizen

[kskiska]

Lawyers for a deported Mexican woman who is eight months pregnant are seeking her return to the United States to protect the unborn baby's health. They also say under federal law the fetus is a viable human being and thus may be eligible for citizenship rights.

That argument sounds like a long shot to some on both sides of the immigration debate. But in May, a U.S. District Court judge in Kansas City, Mo., approved a stay of deportation for a pregnant Mexican woman after raising, among other concerns, the question of whether her fetus could be considered a U.S. citizen. The judge is reviewing the issue.

That Missouri decision cannot set legal precedent, but immigration attorneys say it may offer them a new angle in deportation cases.

Last week immigration officials denied a request to grant 30-year-old Maria Christina Rubio, mother of two young U.S.-born daughters, a temporary humanitarian visa to return to the United States because of complications in her pregnancy. Rubio's attorney did not immediately return calls for comment. She was deported July 16.

more…
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/politics/9248673.htm

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

1. "Cannot set legal precedent", my arse.

Maybe not for immigration cases, but you can bet the anti-choice lobby is going to be all over this one.

[dflprincess]

5. This is going to be a hard one for the anti-choice types

they generally seem to be anit-immigrant as well....Oooooh the dilemma they face. Sure life begins at conception (so they'll say) but does citizenship that's a whole other thing and how do we know that child was conceived in the United States?

I'll have to check out the forums at catholic.com to see if they pick up this story and which way they run with it.

[IndianaGreen]

20. If life begins at conception

then that means the fetus is a US citizen.

It also means that people of 20 years of age can legally start to drink when they are within 9 months of their birth date.

[DemBones DemBones]

23. How is a court going to decide where conception occurred?

Any woman who visits the US within nine months of giving birth could claim she conceived here and her child deserves American citizenship.

Life begins at conception but citizenship begins at birth.

[Sunny_Sunshine]

28. Her husband is a US citizen

Making her baby a US citizen at birth.

[DemBones DemBones]

30. Is he? I don't find that information in the article

linked to. If he is a US citizen, then I think the baby is, too, but they may not let the baby return to the US until he's physically separated from his mother, i.e., born, since she was deported for violating immigration law.

[Book Lover]

2. Another good reason

to define the beginning of legal life at the time of birth. Take this to the extreme - someone conceived on a cruise ship in our waters could then claim citizenship. That would be an unfortunate outcome of a creative lawyer's attempt to do well by his client.

[Scairp]

3. I have sympathy for her

She has two kids here already without their mother, but this is taking the fetal rights fight about three steps too far. It's already gone too far really, IMO, but this is ridiculous.

[havocmom]

4. Lo siento, pero NO!

A fetus is not a citizen.

If that precedent gets set, I am gonna file a law suit demanding my uterine cysts be given the right to vote. Hey, I have had them for over 21 years, and since I cannot afford medical care, I will die with them. They ought to at least be able to vote. They sure as hell are old enough.

[LiberalFighter]

14. What else could be consider a living thing??

amoebas? cancer cells? viruses? human bacteria?

[Pachamama]

18. Bwahahahahaha - Kick! Thanks for the laugh....

Even though Uterine Cysts are not a laughing matter, thanks for making my day with a little laughter...

I have uterine fibroids, so I know a little bit about that....

[KamaAina]

27. I wouldn't if I were you

If that precedent gets set, I am gonna file a law suit demanding my uterine cysts be given the right to vote.

You may want to rethink that. The latest Gallup/Biased Poll shows Bush* with a commanding 94-6 lead among cysts, tumors, pimples, and other bodily excrescences, which for some reason, seem to identify strongly with the pResident.

:-)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

6. The fetus should have citizenship rights

if they're going to stupidly maintain that a fetus is a viable life form. Serves the fundies right for pursuing the fetal rights folly.

[leesa]

7. Too Funny! This is a good thing because it backfires on the

Life at conception folks. After all, they can't have it both ways.

[WildClarySage]

8. This reminds me of the 20(+) year old

who sued for the right to consume alcohol, stating that if life begins at conception, he should be old enough. They had kittens over that, as I recall.

[PotatoBoy]

9. This is ridiculous

Ah yes... the fetus has rights. I think not!

My take on the situation: how can they argue whether the fetus is a U.S. citizen?? How are they going to prove where the baby was conceived? Citizenship is determined at birth, not conception. They should focus on the facts, and try to determine if her giving birth in the U.S. truly is a better option for the baby's health.. and if it is, let her give birth here. Why fuss over legalities at a time like this?

[WildClarySage]

21. b/c they don't care what's best for the fetus

unless of course, she's considering abortion.

[SemperEadem]

24. IF a fetus is a citizen, then it should be taxed

[stepnw1f]

10. Trying To Legitimize a Fetus as A Born Citizen

This is the lock or maybe the key!

[rocktivity]

11. I don't get it

Rubio was deported after she went to what her husband says was to be a status conference on her residency request. Immigration officials say the pregnant Rubio was immediately deported after it was discovered her residency request had been denied two years before and that she had previously entered the country illegally and been deported.
Was she married at the time of her status conference? I thought you became a U.S. citizen once you married one. Are they saying her marriage is null and void because she was in the country illegally at the time?

At any rate, I do agree with this:
...a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States" are considered citizens under the 14th Amendment. It doesn't say all persons who were conceived in the United States."

:headbang:
rocknation

[arikara]

17. No, you still have to apply for residency...

which takes forever, then you can apply for citizenship. My daughter married an American and she wasn't able to come home to Canada for nearly 3 years until she got her green card. If she had come home for a visit they would have denied her access back into the US even though she is married to an American citizen. She now has her green card and can legally work and the important thing is that she can come home once in awhile. One of her friends also married an American and was arbitrarily deported while waiting for her residency. There doesn't seem to be any rationality for it either.

But I must say that if life begins at conception, I'm gonna get my pension and retire 9 months earlier! They're biting off more than they can chew with this nonsense.

[Only Me]

12. Their not talking about a fetus....this woman is EIGHT MONTHS

pregnant, third trimester. This is a baby by most any pro-choicers standards. If it were born at this moment, it would survive on it's own. That is the law. It is NOT considered a human being unless the fetus is viable. Which is consider at about 6 months. Eight months, a baby is definety able to survive outside the womb.

Whether it was concieved in the U.S., that is another story, I am not sure even if that is considered as an issue. Whether it falls under US citizen ship laws because it was not 'born' in the US, thats another biggy too.

[Democat]

13. What do the right wingers hate more - choice or immigrants?

What a bad situation for right wingers. Do they hate a woman's right to choose enough to support the right of any immigrant who gets pregnant in the U.S. to become a citizen?

It will be a battle of one right wing hate against another right wing hate.

[Columbia]

15. Won't work - 14th Amendment

http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am14

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

They can argue that the fetus is viable or whatever they want, but until it is born, it will technically not be a citizen.

[SoCalDem]

16. If she were killed while pregnant and in the US, her killer

would be tried for TWO murders..

Repubes need to be careful of unintended consequences ...

If "life begins at conception" , and abortion is not an option, then a child conceived here IS a citizen :eyes:

[TheWraith]

19. No, see above.

Whether life begins at conception, sixth month, or birth is irrelevant to the case. The law clearly states that the kid must be BORN here to be a citizen. It has to be that way--for one thing, how do you track where someone was conceived? For another, how would you deal with the citizenship issues raised by conception during vacations and honeymoons?

[DemBones DemBones]

22. Life begins at conception, citizenship begins at birth.

It's really easy to figure out. A zygote has the necessary traits to classify it as a living organism but the citizenship of an unborn child has nothing to do with whether it's alive, or viable outside the mother's uterus.

A child can inherit citizenship from parents and/or be born in a country that grants citizenship to anyone born there. It would be chaotic if conception within a country's borders were used as a basis for citizenship decisions.

[NashVegas]

25. You're Not a Citizen Until You're a Consumer

And don't you forget that!

[TheWraith]

29. Damn right on all counts. NT

[yellowcanine]

26. A fetus is not born. Until it is born it cannot be a citizen. 14th

Amendment to the Constitution: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States..."

Fundies not withstanding - A fetus does not have citizenship rights.


On edit: Until the Constitution is amended to read "All persons conceived, born, or naturalized......" this lady and others like her lose their cases. It may not seem fair but that is the law.