Is Baby Born on New York-Bound Flight Entitled to American Citizenship?

While the Supreme Court weighs President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship, a rare birth on a plane landing at New York City is raising questions about whether the child will receive American citizenship. Caribbean Airlines said in a press release that a passenger gave birth on an April 4 flight that was on final approach from Jamaica to New York City. The airline did not provide details about the passenger’s citizenship.“The airline commends the professionalism and measured response of its crew, who managed the situation in accordance with established procedures, ensuring the safety and comfort of all onboard,” the press release said. “We respectfully ask that the privacy of the passenger and her family be observed at this time.”The mother and child were attended to by medical personnel once they arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The airline says it allows passengers to fly without medical clearance up to 32 weeks into a pregnancy, and prohibits flights after the 35th week. But the rare in-flight birth has raised questions about whether the baby is an American citizen under the Fourteenth Amendment. An immigration lawyer, Brad Bernstein, said in a video on his YouTube channel, “The big question is … is that baby a US citizen?”“Here’s the answer, [it] depends on one thing: Where exactly that plane was in the sky at the moment of birth?” he said as he argued the baby would automatically be granted citizenship if the plane was flying in American airspace when the birth occurred. Mr. Bernstein added that if the baby were born “even a few minutes earlier outside of the United States airspace,” the child would not qualify for American citizenship.An NBC News contributor, Hooman Majd, suggested on X that the baby may not qualify for citizenship.“Even if the wheels of the plane had touched down on American soil, the argument against birthright in this case would rest on the fact that the child was not ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof’ as it hadn’t cleared immigration and entered the jurisdiction of the US,” he said. “This presumes neither of the parents is a US citizen or permanent resident; if either or both are, the child also is.”The State Department’s Foreign Affairs Manual cites the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation regarding cases of in-flight births. That convention states that the nationality law of the country to which the aircraft is registered “may be applicable, and for births that occur in flight while the aircraft is not within the territory or airspace of any State, it is the only applicable law that may be pertinent regarding acquisition of citizenship by place of birth.”“However, if the aircraft is in, or flying over the territory of another State, that State may also have concurrent jurisdiction,” the manual says.If the baby was born outside of the 12-nautical-mile limit of America’s coastline, then the birth would be “adjudicated as a birth abroad.”It adds that if the baby was born over “the U.S. territorial sea,” then the case will have to be adjudicated by the State Department. To determine whether the baby receives American citizenship, immigration officials will “require some documentation of the birth, generally an excerpt of the ship’s/aircraft’s medical log or master/captain’s log, reflecting the time, latitude, and longitude when the birth occurred.”Cases of births mid-flight are rare. Between 1929 and 2018, there were just 74 babies born on flights.

Is Baby Born on New York-Bound Flight Entitled to American Citizenship?

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