Citizenship, Federalism, and Delayed Birth Registration in the United States

Abstract

Some births in the United States—though it is unknown how many—go unregistered. Without documentation proving the facts of their births, people without birth registration are often unable to prove their identity or entitlement to citizenship later in life and are excluded from access to other forms of documentation, employment, and government benefits. State law allows adults to register their births through delayed birth registration processes, which vary significantly across jurisdictions. As a result, birth registration processes present a novel model of federalism: state law impacts whether individuals can document the facts of their birth, and recognition of a person’s U.S. citizenship requires the concurrence of both state and federal governments. Birth registration processes also demonstrate that statelessness in the United States can include those entitled to citizenship because of birth in the United States but whose claims the U.S. government does not recognize for lack of documentation of the facts of birth.

Keywords: birth registration, citizenship, federalism, statelessness, nationality