Advice needed RE: deportation

[vcruz]

My fiance is serving a 13 year state prison sentence. He has been a legal resident in the US since he was 3. He was deported to Mexico in 1996 after breaking the law. He now has an INS hold on him on his release.

He has learned that his real father-- not the man listed on his birth certificate-- is a US citizen and this was proven with DNA testing. He would have filed for citizenship earlier had he known this fact. He is 27 years old now.

Doesn't his father being a citizen of the US make him a citizen by birth? How would this effect his deportation? What is the proper course of action to take at this point to fight his deportation?

Any information or advice would be very much appreciated!

[vcruz]

My fiance is serving a 13 year state prison sentence. He has been a legal resident in the US since he was 3. He was deported to Mexico in 1996 after breaking the law. He now has an INS hold on him on his release.

He has learned that his real father-- not the man listed on his birth certificate-- is a US citizen and this was proven with DNA testing. He would have filed for citizenship earlier had he known this fact. He is 27 years old now.

Doesn't his father being a citizen of the US make him a citizen by birth? How would this effect his deportation? What is the proper course of action to take at this point to fight his deportation?

Any information or advice would be very much appreciated!

[swissnut]

I'd recommend consulting with a qualified immigration attorney on this one.

[aceIaw]

Citizenship laws vary with current laws, so as suggested by swisslaw, a very competent attorney is needed for this case.

In general, if there is a question of your fiancee's citizenship/residency status, a "stay of removal" can be petitioned immediatly, and in most cases a habea corpus should be available, too (that he will not have to stay in indefinite BCIS detention after his capital release, but can be released to his last residency untill the judiciary is cleared).
But again, some of the Patriot Act changes may make the INS detention a possibility nevertheless, depending on why he was incacerated for 13 years and if he's eligable to be declared a risk person to national security etc.

I believe, the DNA proof to his U.S. citizen father MAY be void (not that it has to be), if the biological father has had no influence and or support in his upbringing up till the age of 18 and/or 26 respectively.