AR146 —

AR146 AHU Statement 2/14/19 ASSEMBLY HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE   STATEMENT TO   ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION No.

146   STATE OF NEW JERSEY 218th LEGISLATURE   INTRODUCEDDATED: MARCH 22, 2018     Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  FEBRUARY ANNETTE14, QUIJANO2019 District  20      (Union)The Assemblyman Assembly TIMHuman EUSTACEServices DistrictCommittee 38reports (Bergenfavorably andAssembly Passaic)Resolution Assemblywoman No. CAROL A.

MURPHY146. District 7 (Burlington)         SYNOPSIS      Calls on federal government to recognize children of certain LGBTQ parents as United States citizens.

      CURRENTThis VERSIONAssembly OFResolution TEXTcalls     on Asthe introduced.federal government to recognize the children of certain LGBTQ parents as United States citizens.

   An Assembly Resolution calling on the federal government to recognize the children of certain LGBTQ parents as United States citizens.

  Whereas, For years, under multiple presidents, the Department of State has ignored key federal court rulings that provide guidance on how the United States should grant citizenship to children who are born abroad to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, or queer (LGBTQ) Americans;

and Whereas, The Department of State has followed an outdated interpretation of the law, and an outdated notion of parenthood, under which it requires a biological tie between the United States citizen parent and the child;

and Whereas, The Department of State has followed this interpretation despite two court rulings by the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, one in 2000 and one in 2005, which made clear that the “Immigration and Nationality Act,” on which the department’s policy is based, does not require a blood relationship to pass along United States citizenship to children born outside of this country;

and Whereas, The consequence of the dichotomy between Department of State policy and court rulings is that American parents can have one child the government recognizes as a citizen and another child the government does not recognize as a citizen;

and Whereas, There are currently two cases before the courts (Davash-Banks v.

U.S.

Department of State, and Blixt v.

U.S.

Department of State) involving married same-sex couples, in which one is American and the other is not, who used assistive reproductive technology to have children, and one child was granted citizenship and the other child was not, based on DNA testing;

and Whereas, The Department of State is making its decisions based on an internal policy that appears to require a biological or blood relationship between a child and a parent in order for the parent to pass along United States citizenship when the child is born abroad, despite court rulings that hold that it is the reality of being a parent, not a biological tie, that conveys citizenship to one’s newborn baby;

and Whereas, Updating the Department of State’s policy could be accomplished without Congress changing the law simply by following the rulings of earlier court cases so that LGBTQ Americans have the same ability to pass on their citizenship to their children as do straight Americans;

and Whereas, It is fitting and proper for this House to call on the federal government to recognize the children of certain LGBTQ parents as United States citizens;

now, therefore,        Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

     1.    This House calls on the federal government to recognize the children of certain LGBTQ parents as United States citizens.

       2.    Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to the President of the United States and the Secretary of the federal Department of State.

    STATEMENT        This Assembly Resolution calls on the federal government to recognize the children of certain LGBTQ parents as United States citizens.