The Foreign Service Journal, April 2015

18 April 2015 | the foreign Service journal When Families Divide The case I find myself thinking about most was a woman who came in to the consulate with a newborn. She had been born and raised in San Diego, had gone to school, to college, and had a career, a life partner and two other children born in California. She was visiting her grandmother in Ensenada when she had complications that led to an unexpected emergency cesarean section in Mexico. During her interview, she candidly men- tioned that she has visited her grand- mother every few months all her life. With that on the table, I had no choice but to deny her application. Had she been married, or a man, she would have been able to transmit citizenship, but as an unwed mother she didn’t meet the legal requirement. It was as simple as that. She was devastated to learn that she would not be taking her tiny baby home to California anytime soon. Through tears she said, “But why? I don’t understand. You are breaking up my fam- ily.” My assurances that she could obtain citizenship for her child via the Child Citizenship Act offered little consolation. It’s hard for parents in this situa- tion to find comfort in a backup plan that costs far Take AFSAWith You! Change your address online, visit us at www.afsa.org/address Or Send changes to: AFSAMembership Department 2101 E Street NW Washington, DC 20037 Moving? For unwed mothers on the border, transmitting citizenship can be a nerve-wracking exercise to prove that they didn’t set foot in Mexico for an entire 12-month period. Vera Zdravkova