Tuan Anh Nguyen v. Immigration & Naturalization Service

Background

Tuan Anh Nguyen was born in Saigon in 1969 to a U.S. citizen father, Joseph Boulais, and a Vietnamese mother who were not married. Nguyen came to the United States as a child, became a lawful permanent resident, and was raised by his father. After state criminal convictions, the Immigration and Naturalization Service started deportation proceedings. The Board of Immigration Appeals found Nguyen deportable and rejected his claim to U.S. citizenship because he had not satisfied 8 U.S.C. §1409(a)(4)’s requirements for children born abroad and out of wedlock to citizen fathers. Nguyen’s father later obtained a DNA-based parentage order when Nguyen was an adult. The Fifth Circuit upheld the statute and this Court agreed to resolve a split among appeals courts.

Reasoning

The Court addressed whether §1409’s different rules for unmarried citizen fathers and mothers violate equal protection. Applying heightened review for sex-based classifications, the majority held the law is constitutional. The opinion explained Congress has important interests: confirming a biological parent-child link and ensuring some opportunity for a parent-child relationship during the child’s minority. The Court found the three alternative steps in §1409(a)(4)—legitimation, sworn acknowledgment, or a court paternity order—reasonably further those goals and are minimal burdens. Justice Scalia concurred; Justice O’Connor dissented, arguing the classification failed heightened scrutiny.

Real world impact

The decision upholds the special requirements that unmarried U.S. fathers must meet to transmit citizenship to children born abroad. Children who lack the specified proof or acts may be treated as noncitizens and face deportation despite a biological tie. The ruling resolves conflicting appeals-court decisions and leaves Congress’ gender-differentiated scheme intact.