Family Values: The Child Citizenship Act’s Ability to Protect the Foreign-Born Children of U.S. Citizens from Deportation

Abstract

On March 19, 2019, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Duncan v. Barr held, as a matter of first impression, that the physical custody requirement of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 is a mixed question of law and fact and thus requires more than clear error review by an appellate body. In so doing, the court rejected broad deference to immigration judges on the question of physical custody and permitted greater independent judgment by appellate bodies. This Comment argues that, although the Fourth Circuit correctly ruled on the proper standard of review, it missed an opportunity to correct a line of precedent and regulation misinterpreting the language of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 and its original intent.