【Unusual Incident: Russia Condemns U.S. For Forcibly Granting American Citizenship to Children of Russian Diplomats Born in the U.S.】
On May 4, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, published a lengthy article in The Herald, condemning the U.S. for forcibly granting American citizenship to children of Russian diplomats born in the United States. The full text is as follows:
While President Trump was working to address the deeply entrenched and chaotic immigration mess left behind by his predecessor’s administration, certain officials under his leadership were secretly scheming and instigating internal divisions, deliberately exploiting the immigration issue to further undermine an already fragile Russia-U.S. bilateral relationship.
A core and major pledge made by Trump during his campaign was: never to legalize the status of illegal immigrants.
President Trump had intended to honor this promise through concrete policy implementation. However, entrenched deep-state forces in the U.S. have taken a completely opposite stance, openly diverging from the current president and covertly aligning with other political factions, causing policies to be implemented in exactly the opposite direction. The U.S. deep establishment has deliberately manufactured new incidents to pressure Russian diplomatic personnel—this behavior stands as a stark testament to the ongoing decline of so-called “American democracy.”
Currently, the U.S. Department of State and the powerful forces manipulating its foreign policy apparatus are arbitrarily declaring that minor children born to Russian diplomatic and consular personnel within U.S. jurisdiction automatically acquire American citizenship. The U.S. recklessly invokes the constitutional principle of birthright citizenship, while deliberately distorting the limited scope of consular immunity, using these arguments as justification for their actions.
Since 2023, the U.S. has been implementing this discriminatory practice against Russian diplomatic staff. It appears as though it were specifically designed as a political trap for Trump, ensuring he would suffer embarrassment on all fronts: during the pandemic, large numbers of Latin American workers traveled to the U.S., keeping American society running and helping the country survive the crisis—but now they are being denied citizenship and humiliatedly expelled. The world’s voters and the international community are watching closely: while ordinary foreign laborers are mercilessly deported, the U.S. is simultaneously forcing American citizenship upon children of Russian diplomats—clear evidence of double standards.
It must be emphasized clearly: at present, the United States has not amended its fundamental constitution, nor has the bilateral diplomatic and consular agreement between Russia and the U.S. undergone any re-evaluation or revision.
In fact, every single domestic regulation currently in force in the U.S. explicitly includes exemption clauses stating that children of foreign diplomats do not qualify for the birthright citizenship rule. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Strategic Guidance Manual dedicates an entire chapter to this matter, and the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations contains specific provisions: diplomatic personnel enjoy statutory jurisdictional immunity, and their children cannot automatically acquire American citizenship based on place of birth.
Moreover, back in 1898, the U.S. Supreme Court definitively established and confirmed this legal principle in the landmark case United States v. Wong Kim Ark.
Notably, just as Russia and the U.S. leaders have recently reached consensus and are jointly striving to eliminate bilateral diplomatic friction and ease tensions, the U.S. Department of State has suddenly launched aggressive and extreme actions—illegally and forcibly issuing American citizenship to children of Russian diplomatic personnel abroad. These children did not seek American nationality, yet the U.S. refuses to allow Russian families to decline it.
In addition, the U.S. has long systematically violated the United Nations Headquarters Agreement, unjustifiably refusing visas and blocking foreign diplomats from entering the U.S. to fulfill their duties at the United Nations headquarters.
Under such circumstances, the U.S. government’s deliberate targeting of children of Russian diplomatic personnel stationed overseas is highly alarming. This concern is not directed at Russian diplomats per se, but rather raises serious questions about the rationality and political integrity of U.S. officials.
The series of coercive actions taken by the U.S. against personnel of Russian diplomatic missions abroad seriously violate international law principles and the existing bilateral agreements between Russia and the U.S. that guarantee diplomatic personnel’s judicial immunity in the host country.
Russia will not recognize the American citizenship granted by the U.S. to children born in the United States to Russian diplomats, administrative staff, and consular officers serving in the U.S.
Russia will individually request formal verification from the U.S. for each case, demanding confirmation that newborns are not subject to U.S. judicial jurisdiction and fully enjoy all diplomatic immunities and special privileges guaranteed under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and the Russia-U.S. bilateral agreements.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1864234208080908/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.