No, having a U.S. citizen child does not automatically prevent a parent from being deported or provide immediate legal status. While birthright citizenship makes the child a U.S. citizen, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can still initiate removal proceedings against undocumented parents. However, it can be a factor in legal defenses.
ICE can consider family ties when prioritizing removals, but this is entirely discretionary and not likely to occur in today's political climate. In other words, parents can be deported, even when their child is a U.S. citizen.
Having a US-born child makes the CHILD a US citizen, but gives the parent NO immediate immigration benefit. When the child reaches age 21, is living in the US, and can support you if you cannot support yourself, he/she may petition for you to receive an immigrant visa and green card.
Asylum is an option for undocumented immigrants who have faced, or will likely face, persecution if returned to their home country. You can apply for asylum affirmatively or defensively. In other words, you can proactively use it, or you can raise it as a defense to deportation or removal proceedings.
Birthright citizenship does not automatically grant legal status to the parents. The child's birth in the U.S. does not change the immigration status of the parents, and they may still be subject to deportation if they are in the country without authorization.
Your child must usually be under 18 on the date you apply for indefinite leave to remain if you are applying on the 5 year route. If your child is 18 or over you can still apply if both: your child was under 18 when you got your family visa as a parent.
The parents of a U.S. citizen who is at least age 21 are considered "immediate relatives," and therefore eligible for a green card, allowing them to live and work in the United States.
Green card. Visa. TPS (temporary protected status) card. Any previous deportation orders.
The first means that anyone born in the United States is automatically a citizen at birth irrespective of parents' citizenship status. The second means that children born abroad to at least one U.S. citizen parent may be entitled to U.S. citizenship, if they meet certain statutory requirements.
U.S. Citizen Child Can File a Petition for Parents at Age 21. One of the most direct legal benefits is that a U.S. citizen child can file a Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) on behalf of a parent once the child turns 21 years old.
If a U.S. citizen has a child in another country, the child can acquire U.S. citizenship at birth, but you must report the birth to the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate to get a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA), which serves as official proof, and apply for a U.S. passport, meeting specific parent physical presence requirements, usually five years in the U.S. (two after age 14) for the citizen parent.
That means that a child born in the United States today is a U.S. citizen, full stop. It does not matter what state they are born in or the immigration status of their parents; that child is fully protected by the Fourteenth Amendment's citizenship guarantee.
NOTE: If you are deportable under paragraphs (2), (3), or (4) of former section 241(a) of the INA, you must establish that you have been physically present in the United States for a continuous period of not less than ten (10) years immediately following the commission of an act or assumption of a status constituting a ...
Any alien who at any time after admission is convicted of two or more crimes involving moral turpitude, not arising out of a single scheme of criminal misconduct, regardless of whether confined therefor and regardless of whether the convictions were in a single trial, is deportable.
US citizens cannot be deported. However, the government can attempt to take away the citizenship of a naturalized citizen if they can show that her naturalization was gained through fraud – for example, if a person did not disclose an arrest or conviction on the naturalization application.
Adjustment of Status
If you are eligible to apply for a green card, you may be able to adjust your status to avoid deportation. This defense is typically available to individuals who are immediate relatives of U.S. citizens or who qualify for a visa through employment or another legal avenue.
New rules for Green Card holders in late 2025 and early 2026 focus heavily on mandatory biometric entry/exit scans (facial recognition) for everyone, including children and seniors, creating potential travel delays. Other key changes involve tighter vetting for marriage-based applications, increased focus on tax compliance, reduced EAD validity (18 months), and scrutiny of long travel absences, all aiming to prevent fraud and increase monitoring through automated systems.
The simple answer is yes—a child who is over 21 years old can begin the process for a parent to get their Permanent Residence card, often referred to as a green card.