The new law announced on Wednesday, August 28th, makes getting automatic citizenship for the children of some U.S. military and government officials working abroad tougher.

Not many people are expected to be affected, however, the news did spark a bit of controversy when it was officially announced. Most people who are a part of the U.S. government and military will get automatic citizenship for their children, however there are still a few specific groups who will not receive automatic citizenship.

Specific groups will be greatly affected. For example, US citizens who adopted children while abroad will have a tougher time getting citizenship. They will have to go through a more thorough process. Another group that will be impacted will be people who became U.S. citizens after their children were born.

An anonymous US veteran said, “These folks volunteer to put their lives on the line for our country, but if their kids are born abroad, they aren’t guaranteed US citizenship to serving military families?”

Beginning this year on October 29th, the new rule does not affect anybody who already resides in the U.S.  started much confusion over military members when it was first announced because families were confused about whether or not they would have to have citizenship for their children if they were born when they were serving overseas.

“I believe that they should make the immigration process easier for people who wish to apply for citizenship instead of making it harder because many people want to be citizens but can’t,” said Brian Olivares (10).