U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould Announces Fifth Circuit Victory Clarifying Citizenship Transmission Law

DALLAS - U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Ryan Raybould, announced that on Aug. 14, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of two consolidated lawsuits seeking derivative U.S. citizenship and immigration related relief.

The plaintiffs asked the Court to adopt a "constructive presence" doctrine to bypass the statutory physical presence requirements for transmitting citizenship. The Fifth Circuit firmly rejected that theory, emphasizing that Congress, not the courts, defines who may acquire U.S. citizenship.

In a key line summarizing the Court's approach, the panel wrote: "The applicable law for transmitting citizenship to a child born abroad is the statute in effect at the time of the child's birth." The Court concluded the plaintiffs could not satisfy those statutes and made clear that judges may not rewrite them: "We reject the constructive presence doctrine…none of the statutory exceptions apply here, and we will not create judicial ones."

Judge Ho's concurrence reinforced the ruling in direct terms: "Federal courts may not confer U.S. citizenship on any individual who fails to comply with all of the conditions and requirements set forth in our naturalization laws, and that includes the requirement of physical presence."

The Court also held that the plaintiffs' claims were barred under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(g), that their declaratory-judgment claims were unexhausted and that their APA claims lacked any reviewable final agency action.

U.S. Attorney Raybould praised the ruling:

"This opinion brings essential clarity to citizenship transmission law. The Fifth Circuit confirmed that Congress's rules govern, and that those rules must be applied exactly as written. AUSA Brian Stoltz did outstanding work securing this clean and decisive victory."

The Fifth Circuit's decision was issued in the consolidated cases Guerra Quezada v. United States, No. 25-10372, and Guerra Vasquez v. United States, No. 25-10555.

For more information, please contact the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas.

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