Speech #1060008098

I rise today to introduce a private bill for the relief of Janina Altagracia CastilloRojas and her husband. Diogenes Patricio Rojas. My bill would grant permanent resident status to Janina and Diogenes. who face deportation later this month to the Dominican Republic as a result of a technicality in current federal immigration law. Janina has been denied citizenship because her mother was the child of a U.S. citizen female and foreign male. Previous law allowed only children of U.S. citizen males and foreign females to claim U.S. citizenship. In 1994. Senator Paul Simon passed the Immigration and Nationality and Technical Corrections Act. which allowed individuals born overseas before 1934 to U.S. citizen mothers. and their descendants. to claim U.S. citizenship. As a result of that 1994 law. Janinas mother received U.S. citizenship in However. when Janina attempted to attain citizenship as a descendant of a direct beneficiary of this legislation. her application was denied. Despite the 1994 law. the Immigration and Naturalization Service required that Janinas mother meet transmission requirements: she must have been physically present in the U.S. for 10 years prior to Janinas birth. 5 of which over the age of 16 years. in order for Janina to derive citizenship. Since her mother was prohibited from becoming a U.S. citizen until 1996. however. this requirement is unreasonable. While 60 years of discriminatory law was corrected in 1994. the citizenship qualifications of the line of descendants of those U.S. citizen females remain adversely impacted.