The Yale Law Journal

Victoria Degtyareva

Note

Defining Family in Immigration Law: Accounting for Nontraditional Families in Citizenship by Descent

Victoria Degtyareva

120 Yale L.J. 862 (2011). 

Most immigrants who gain permanent residence or citizenship in the United States do so through familial relations. As a result, immigration authorities must constantly decide what constitutes a family. Unfortunately, the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides li…