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Keywords

discrimination

adoption

Related Cases

Schreiber v. Cuccinelli

Facts

Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Schreiber, a U.S. citizen and Kansas resident, adopted his niece Hyebin from South Korea when she was seventeen. He filed an I-130 petition with USCIS to classify her as his 'child' for immigration purposes, asserting that Kansas law considered adopted children as 'legitimated.' However, both USCIS and the BIA denied his petition, stating that Hyebin could not be classified as his 'legitimated' child because she was not his biological child.

Mr. Schreiber and his wife are United States citizens and Kansas residents. In 2012, Hyebin, who is the niece of Mr. Schreiber's wife, moved from her native South Korea to Kansas in order to live with the Schreibers and attend high school. In 2014, the Schreibers adopted Hyebin under Kansas law with the consent of her biological parents. She was seventeen years old. The Kansas adoption decree stated that Hyebin 'is hereby the child and heir-at-law' of the Schreibers, who 'are entitled to exercise any and all rights of parents of [Hyebin] and are subject to all of the liabilities of that relationship.'

Issue

Whether an adopted child can qualify as a 'legitimated' child under 8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act when the child is not the biological child of the parent.

This case presents the issue of whether a father's adopted child can qualify as his 'legitimated' child for purposes of 1101(b)(1)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ('Act'), 8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)(C), when the child is not his biological child.

Rule

The BIA interpreted the term 'legitimated' to mean that only a biological parent can legitimate a child under the Immigration and Nationality Act, and that the Act does not look to state law to determine whether a parent may legitimate someone other than their biological children.

The Act provides, in relevant part, that 'an unmarried person under twenty-one years of age' qualifies as a 'legitimated' child if she is 'legitimated under the law of [her] residence or domicile, or under the law of [her] father's residence or domicile,' and if '[her] legitimation takes place before [she] reaches the age of eighteen years.' 8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)(C).

Analysis

The court agreed with the BIA's interpretation, stating that the concept of legitimation inherently implies a biological relationship between parent and child. The court found that the statutory language was unambiguous and did not require deference to state law in this context. The court also noted that the father had not exhausted his gender-discrimination argument before the BIA, which precluded its consideration.

Like the district court, we determine that the BIA correctly interpreted the Act's plain meaning and, thus, did not err in ruling that a parent's non-biological child may not be his 'legitimated' child within the meaning of the Act.

Conclusion

The Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment, upholding the BIA's decision that Hyebin could not be classified as Schreiber's 'legitimated' child under the Act.

Therefore, we affirm the district court's judgment.

Who won?

The prevailing party was the BIA, as the court upheld its interpretation of the Immigration and Nationality Act, affirming that only biological children can be considered 'legitimated' under the law.

The BIA upheld the USCIS's denial of Mr. Schreiber's petition under the rationale that a parent may legitimate only his 'biological child.'

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