Martinez-Madera v. Holder ( 2009 )


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  •                     FOR PUBLICATION
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
    JUAN JOSE MARTINEZ-MADERA,                
    Petitioner,               No. 06-73157
    v.
            Agency No.
    A14-647-093
    ERIC HOLDER, JR., Attorney
    General,                                            OPINION
    Respondent.
    
    On Petition for Review of an Order of the
    Board of Immigration Appeals
    Argued and Submitted
    April 17, 2008—San Francisco, California
    Filed March 16, 2009
    Before: Stephen S. Trott and Sidney R. Thomas,
    Circuit Judges, and Michael R. Hogan,* District Judge.
    Opinion by Judge Trott;
    Dissent by Judge Thomas
    *The Honorable Michael R. Hogan, United States District Judge for the
    District of Oregon, sitting by designation.
    3357
    MARTINEZ-MADERA v. HOLDER              3359
    COUNSEL
    Paul S. Jasper, Katherine Morgan, and Katherine A. Sullivan,
    Leboeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae LLP, San Francisco, Cali-
    fornia, for the petitioner.
    Andrew Oliveira, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington,
    D.C., for the respondent.
    3360             MARTINEZ-MADERA v. HOLDER
    OPINION
    TROTT, Circuit Judge:
    Is an unnaturalized person (1) born in Mexico, (2) to unwed
    Mexican citizen parents, (3) whose mother later married in
    Mexico a United States citizen, who treats that person as his
    son, and (4) who with his family moves to the United States,
    a citizen of the United States? The answer according to the
    law is “no.”
    I
    OVERVIEW
    Juan Jose Martinez-Madera petitions for review of a deci-
    sion of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”), dismiss-
    ing his appeal from a final order of deportation. Petitioner
    contends he is a United States citizen by virtue of his stepfa-
    ther’s United States citizenship and therefore is not deportable
    under § 237(a)(2)(A)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality
    Act (“INA”), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii), as an alien con-
    victed of an aggravated felony. We have jurisdiction under 8
    U.S.C. § 1252(b)(5)(A), and must determine whether INA
    § 301(g), 8 U.S.C. § 1401(g) requires at least one of a per-
    son’s parents to be married to a U.S. citizen at the time of the
    petitioner’s birth. We hold that it does, and so deny the peti-
    tion.
    II
    BACKGROUND
    Petitioner was born in Mexico in January 1953. His biolog-
    ical parents were both Mexican citizens and were never mar-
    ried. Six months after Petitioner was born, his mother
    Thomasa Madera (“Madera”) met and began a relationship
    with Jesus Gonzalez (“Gonzales”), a United States citizen.
    MARTINEZ-MADERA v. HOLDER                  3361
    The couple married in February 1960 and, in December 1965
    moved with Petitioner and his half-siblings to California. Peti-
    tioner has lived there ever since. The record does not contra-
    dict Petitioner’s assertion that since he was six months old,
    Gonzalez has held Petitioner out and treated him as his son.
    However, Gonzalez never legally adopted Petitioner. Petition-
    er’s mother became a naturalized citizen in 1995. By that
    time, Petitioner was forty-three years old. There is no evi-
    dence Petitioner made any effort to become naturalized.
    In October 1996, Petitioner pled nolo contendere to
    attempted murder under circumstances that involved domestic
    violence with a firearm. He served an enhanced eight-year
    criminal sentence. He was released on September 22, 2005.
    On September 8, 2005, removal proceedings were initiated
    against Petitioner on the ground that he was deportable as an
    aggravated felon under INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(iii). After a merits
    hearing, the Immigration Judge found that Petitioner was not
    a U.S. citizen and that the government had proven by clear
    and convincing evidence that he was deportable as an aggra-
    vated felon.
    On appeal to the BIA, Petitioner argued that he derived
    U.S. citizenship when his stepfather, Gonzalez, allegedly
    legitimated him as his son “in accordance with California’s
    legitimation statute.” The BIA reviewed Petitioner’s case de
    novo and dismissed his appeal. After reviewing the facts, the
    relevant statutory framework, and our decisions in Scales v.
    I.N.S., 
    232 F.3d 1159
    (9th Cir. 2000), and Solis-Espinoza v.
    Gonzales, 
    401 F.3d 1090
    (9th Cir. 2005), the BIA concluded
    that Petitioner had not carried his burden to establish U.S. citi-
    zenship. The BIA provided a thoughtful analysis of Petition-
    er’s argument:
    The court’s decision in Scales v. INS, involved a
    child who was born to a non-citizen woman who was
    married at the time of the child’s birth to a United
    States citizen. That man accepted the child and acted
    3362             MARTINEZ-MADERA v. HOLDER
    as his father, even though he was not the biological
    father of the child. The court observed in Scales that
    while the “blood relationship” requirement in 8
    U.S.C. § 1409 applied to an illegitimate child, the
    requirement applied only to an illegitimate child and
    that it did not apply to someone who was not born
    “out of wedlock.” The court determined that the
    respondent in that case was not illegitimate, since he
    was “born to parents who were married at the time
    of his birth,” even though the husband in that mar-
    ried couple was not the child’s biological father.
    Thus, the court concluded that § 1409 did not apply
    to him, and then determined that the respondent
    qualified for United States citizenship under § 1401,
    despite the lack of a blood relationship between the
    child and the United States citizen parent, since the
    statute did not require a blood relationship for citi-
    zenship, other than the requirement under § 1409
    applicable only to a child born out of wedlock. The
    court further recognized in Solis-Espinoza v. Gon-
    zales, that there should be no distinction on the issue
    of legitimation, where an individual such as the
    respondent in the case before us, who was acknowl-
    edged and accepted into the family by the mother’s
    United States citizen husband, and was otherwise
    treated as if he were a legitimate child, and adopted
    as such; and the situation in Scales v. INS, where the
    father of an illegitimate child acknowledges and with
    the consent of the United States citizen spouse,
    brings the child into the family; and concluded that
    public policy dictates that in both instances such
    child is deemed for all purposes legitimate from the
    time of its birth.
    However, notwithstanding the foregoing discus-
    sion, we find the respondent does not benefit from
    the Ninth Circuit decisions in either Solis-Espinoza
    v. Gonzales, or Scales v. INS. As noted above, in
    MARTINEZ-MADERA v. HOLDER                  3363
    both Solis-Espinoza and Scales, the court found that
    there was an existing marital relationship between
    one of the biological parents and the stepparent at
    the time the child was born so that the child was not
    considered to be illegitimate or born out of wedlock
    and was therefore not barred from establishing citi-
    zenship under 8 U.S.C. § 1401(g). In contrast, in the
    respondent’s case, the respondent’s natural parents
    were both unmarried and Mexican citizens at the
    time of the respondent’s birth, and the respondent’s
    mother did not marry his United States citizen step-
    father until 1960 seven years after he was born. Con-
    sequently, he may not benefit from those decisions.
    (Internal citations omitted). The BIA thus concluded that Peti-
    tioner was not entitled to derivative citizenship and was there-
    fore removable as an aggravated felon under INA
    § 237(a)(2)(A)(iii) and 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(U). We agree.
    III
    DISCUSSION
    Standard of Review
    We review de novo a claim of citizenship. 
    Solis-Espinoza, 401 F.3d at 1092
    . Because the BIA’s review was de novo, our
    “review is limited to the decision of the BIA.” 
    Scales, 232 F.3d at 1162
    .
    Analysis
    “There are ‘two sources of citizenship, and two only: birth
    and naturalization.’ ” Miller v. Albright, 
    523 U.S. 420
    , 423
    (1998) (citing United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 
    169 U.S. 649
    ,
    702 (1898). “Evidence of foreign birth . . . gives rise to a
    rebuttable presumption of alienage, and the burden then shifts
    to the petitioner to prove citizenship.” 
    Scales, 232 F.3d at 3364
                    MARTINEZ-MADERA v. HOLDER
    1163. “ ‘The applicable law for transmitting citizenship to a
    child born abroad when one parent is a U.S. citizen is the stat-
    ute that was in effect at the time of the child’s birth.’ ” 
    Id. at 1162
    (citing United States v. Viramontes-Alvarado, 
    149 F.3d 912
    , 915 (9th Cir. 1998)) (quoting Ablang v. Reno, 
    52 F.3d 801
    , 803 (9th Cir. 1995)) (quoting Runnett v. Shultz, 
    901 F.2d 782
    , 783 (9th Cir. 1990)).
    [1] In both Scales and Solis-Espinoza,1 one of the petition-
    1
    The text of 8 U.S.C. §§ 1401 and 1409 was not amended in any rele-
    vant way between 1952 and 1986. Thus, we interpreted the same version
    of these sections in Scales, where the petitioner was born in 1977, and in
    Solis-Espinoza, where the petitioner was born in 1967. 
    Compare 232 F.3d at 1161
    and 401 F.3d at 1091
    .
    Section 1401(a)(7), Nationals and Citizens of the United States at birth,
    provides in relevant part as follows:
    (a) The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United
    States at birth:
    . . . [paragraphs (1) through (6)]
    (7) A person born outside the geographical limits of the
    United States . . . of parents one of whom is an alien, and the
    other a citizen of the United States who, prior to the birth of
    such person, was physically present in the United States . . .
    for a period or periods totaling not less than ten years, . . . .
    Section 1409 provides in relevant part:
    Children born out of wedlock
    (a) The provisions of paragraph (c), (d), (e), and (g) of section
    1401 of this title, and of paragraph (2) of section 1408 of this
    title, shall apply as of the date of birth to a person born out of
    wedlock if—
    (1) a blood relationship between the person and the father is
    established by clear and convincing evidence,
    (2) the father had the nationality of the United States at the
    time of the person’s birth,
    (3) the father (unless deceased) has agreed in writing to pro-
    vide financial support for the person until the person reaches
    the age of 18 years, and
    MARTINEZ-MADERA v. HOLDER                      3365
    er’s biological parents was married to a U.S. citizen at the
    time of the petitioner’s birth. See 
    Scales, 232 F.3d at 1161-62
    (biological mother married to citizen stepfather at time of
    petitioner’s birth); 
    Solis-Espinoza, 401 F.3d at 1091
    (biologi-
    cal father married to citizen stepmother at time of petitioner’s
    birth). We have not yet addressed the scenario where neither
    of the petitioner’s parents were citizens at the time of his
    birth, and, as here, the petitioner claims to have derived citi-
    zenship under § 1401 when, subsequent to the petitioner’s
    birth, his or her biological non-citizen parent simply married
    a U.S. citizen.
    As recognized by the BIA, Solis-Espinoza and Scales, upon
    which Petitioner relies, are manifestly distinguishable and
    thus not controlling. See 
    401 F.3d 1090
    ; 
    232 F.3d 1159
    . In
    each case, the person claiming citizenship was born into a
    marital relationship between a citizen and an alien. In con-
    trast, Martinez-Madera was born in Mexico of unwed Mexi-
    can parents, neither of whom was married to a United States
    citizen at the time of Martinez-Madera’s birth.
    [2] We agree with the Fifth Circuit’s resolution of a case
    with similar facts. In Marquez-Marquez v. Gonzales, 
    455 F.3d 548
    (5th Cir. 2006), that court held that a person born of
    unwed Mexican parents in Mexico did not become a United
    States citizen by virtue of her later adoption by a United
    States citizen, who was married to neither of her parents at the
    (4) while the person is under the age of 18 year—
    (A) the person is legitimated under the law of the person’s
    residence or domicile,
    (B) the father acknowledges paternity of the person in writ-
    ing under oath, or
    (C) the paternity of the person is established by adjudication
    of a competent court.
    8 U.S.C. § 1409(a).
    3366             MARTINEZ-MADERA v. HOLDER
    time of her birth. Our sister circuit properly distinguished
    Scales and Solis-Espinoza, and quoted the following from an
    unpublished decision of our own circuit: “Crider was born of
    parents neither of whom were or are citizens of the United
    States. He could not have been a citizen ‘at birth.’ There is no
    conceivable way to place him within the reach of § [1401].”
    
    Id. at 558-559,
    & n.22 (quoting Crider v. Ashcroft, 74 Fed.
    Appx. 729-30 (9th Cir. 2003)) (unpublished) (citing I.N.S. v.
    Pangilinan, 
    486 U.S. 875
    (1988)).
    Petitioner relies on California’s legitimation statute, Cal.
    Civ. Code § 230 (1872) (since repealed by Stats. 1975, c.
    1244, p. 3196, § 8), to support his argument, claiming that
    under Solis-Espinoza, “he, as a legitimate son, was not ‘born
    out of wedlock,’ ” and that because he was not ‘born out of
    wedlock,’ Scales and Solis-Espinoza mandate that he deserves
    citizenship from his stepfather, Gonzales. We find this argu-
    ment unconvincing, for two reasons.
    [3] First, former Cal. Civ. Code § 230 applies only to
    fathers legitimating their illegitimate biological children. The
    statute does not apply to stepfathers informally adopting step-
    children. How do we know this? Out of the mouth of the Cali-
    fornia Supreme Court itself. In Blythe v. Ayres, 31 P.915 (Cal.
    1892), that court held that former Cal. Civ. Code § 230 was
    a legitimization statute relating to persons “where the blood
    relation exists.” 
    Id. at 916.
    See also In re Lund’s Estate, 
    159 P.2d 643
    , 654 (Cal. 1945) (“[T]here is a natural and basic dif-
    ference between the adoption of blood strangers and the adop-
    tion by legitimation of a natural child.” (citing Blythe, 
    31 P. 915
    )).
    Second, Petitioner’s authority does not hold that an alien
    parent who is unmarried at the time of the birth of a person
    who later claims citizenship may be deemed to have been
    married to a citizen at the time of birth.
    [4] As for § 1409, that path to citizenship would require a
    blood relationship between Petitioner and Gonzales, which
    MARTINEZ-MADERA v. HOLDER                 3367
    does not exist. As we said in Scales, “Moreover, § 1409
    clearly was enacted ‘at least in part, to ensure that a person
    born out of wedlock who claims citizenship by birth actually
    shares a blood relationship with an American citizen.’ 
    232 F.3d at 1164
    (quoting 
    Miller, 523 U.S. at 435
    ) (emphasis
    added). See also Tuan Anh Nguyen v. I.N.S., 
    533 U.S. 53
    (2001) (describing § 1409 as a statute requiring a blood rela-
    tionship, either by birth or by legitimation). Furthermore, the
    Board’s determination to this effect is entitled to Chevron def-
    erence. Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense
    Council, 
    467 U.S. 837
    (1984).
    The dissent claims that “one would be hard-pressed to
    come up with a logical reason” to explain this result. Beyond
    those reasons articulated throughout this opinion, we would
    add only that one would be even more “hard-pressed” to come
    up with a logical reason to explain the dissent’s desired result
    — that a person born out of the country to two unwed non-
    citizen parents can derive citizenship “by birth” from a subse-
    quent U.S. citizen stepfather — is not an untenable and para-
    doxical reading of § 1401’s requirement that one be born in
    wedlock to a U.S. citizen to derive citizenship from that par-
    ent.
    IV
    CONCLUSION
    [5] The foregoing leads to the unsurprising conclusion that
    Petitioner, born to two unwed non-citizen parents, cannot be
    deemed “born in wedlock” under § 1401. And, because there
    is no blood relation between Petitioner and Gonzalez, his citi-
    zen stepfather, he cannot meet his burden to prove citizenship
    under § 1409. See 
    Scales, 232 F.3d at 1164
    ; 
    Solis-Espinoza, 401 F.3d at 1093
    . Finally, because it is undisputed that he was
    convicted of attempted murder, we conclude that Petitioner
    is removable under 8 U.S.C. §§ 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) and
    1101(a)(43)(U).
    3368              MARTINEZ-MADERA v. HOLDER
    As in the case of Tuan Anh Nguyen, Petitioner’s blocked
    path to citizenship is “due to the serious nature of his criminal
    offense[ ], not . . . to any supposed rigidity or harshness in the
    citizenship laws.” 
    Id. at 71.
    Among other options, the natural-
    ization door was open to him, but he did not elect to pass
    through it, choosing instead serious antisocial conduct that led
    him to prison.
    Petition DENIED.
    THOMAS, Circuit Judge, dissenting:
    The majority concludes that a child raised from the age of
    six months by a non-biological citizen father is not a citizen.
    Our case law, the governing federal and state statutes, and a
    proper application of the principles of cooperative federalism
    compel a different conclusion. Thus, I must respectfully dis-
    sent.
    I
    Juan Jose Martinez-Madera moved to the United States
    when he was six years old and has now lived here for over
    forty years. Martinez-Madera’s mother began a relationship
    with Jesus Gonzales, the man Martinez-Madera regards as his
    father, when Martinez-Madera was an infant. The IJ found it
    undisputed that “since [Martinez-Madera]’s age of 6 months
    Mr. Gonzales . . . has held out that [Martinez-Madera] is to
    be his son and addresses him and adopted him into the family
    . . . . He has always held [Martinez-Madera] out to be a son
    and part of the family.” Martinez-Madera’s parents had six
    biological children together between 1954 and 1966. They
    married in 1960. Throughout his entire childhood, Martinez-
    Madera lived with his parents and siblings as a family unit.
    Gonzales provided for the entire family and publicly held
    himself out as Martinez-Madera’s father.
    MARTINEZ-MADERA v. HOLDER                3369
    Now, Martinez-Madera claims derivative citizenship
    through Gonzales, a United States citizen. He cites our cases
    Scales v. INS, 
    232 F.3d 1159
    (9th Cir. 2000), and Solis-
    Espinoza v. Gonzales, 
    401 F.3d 1090
    (9th Cir. 2005), which
    establish that a person of foreign birth may derive citizenship
    through a non-biological U.S. citizen parent under 8 U.S.C.
    § 1401 (1964), so long as the person was not born “out of
    wedlock.” In both Scales and Solis-Espinoza, we looked to
    state law to determine whether the person was born in or out
    of wedlock.
    Under California law, Martinez-Madera was clearly born in
    wedlock and thus derives United States citizenship from his
    father. The majority ignores the precedent set by Scales and
    Solis-Espinoza and in doing so contradicts established public
    policy and an express provision of the Immigration and
    Nationality Act (“INA”).
    II
    In Scales, we first had the opportunity to consider whether
    a person of foreign birth may derive U.S. citizenship through
    a non-biological parent. We examined the two relevant statu-
    tory provisions — 8 U.S.C. § 1401 and 8 U.S.C. § 1409 —
    and held that § 1401 does not “require a blood relationship
    between a person born outside the United States and his U.S.
    citizen 
    parent.” 232 F.3d at 1161
    . We observed that § 1401
    applies if the person claiming citizenship was born “in wed-
    lock,” while § 1409 applies if the person was born “out of
    wedlock.” Thus, we proceeded to determine whether the peti-
    tioner was born in or out of wedlock. To make this determina-
    tion, we looked to the relevant state law of the petitioner’s
    domicile. Indeed, we recognized that the INA provides that a
    child can be “legitimated under the law of the child’s resi-
    dence or domicile.” 
    Scales, 232 F.3d at 1163
    (quoting 8
    U.S.C. § 1101(c)(1) (1976)). We noted that the petitioner and
    his family had resided in the state of Washington since the
    petitioner was 11 years old and that Washington state law pro-
    3370              MARTINEZ-MADERA v. HOLDER
    vided at the time that “[a] man is presumed to be the natural
    father of a child if: (a) He and the child’s natural mother are
    or have been married to each other and the child is born dur-
    ing the marriage.” 
    Id. at 1163
    and n.7 (quoting Wash. Rev.
    Code § 26.26.040(1)(a)). Applying this law, we concluded
    that the petitioner “is ‘legitimate’ by virtue of his parents
    being married at the time of his birth,” 
    id. at 1164,
    and held
    “that Petitioner acquired citizenship at birth under § 1401,” 
    id. at 1166.
    In Solis-Espinoza, we confronted “a situation much like
    [that of Scales], but with the genders of the parents 
    reversed.” 401 F.3d at 1093
    . As in Scales, we looked to state law to
    determine whether the petitioner was born in or out of wed-
    lock. We observed that “[t]he relevant state of domicile for
    Solis-Espinoza and his father was California,” 
    id. at 1093,
    and
    thus applied a California state law in effect at the time. That
    law provided:
    The father of an illegitimate child, by publicly
    acknowledging it as his own, receiving it as such,
    with the consent of his wife, if he is married, into his
    family, and otherwise treating it as if it were a legiti-
    mate child, thereby adopts it as such; and such child
    is thereupon deemed for all purposes legitimate from
    the time of its birth.
    Cal. Civ. Code § 230 (1872). Applying that statute, we held:
    “Under the law of California at the relevant time . . . Solis-
    Espinoza was ‘for all purposes legitimate’ from the time of
    his birth. Since he was not ‘born out of wedlock,’ under our
    decision in Scales . . . he is entitled to be recognized as a citi-
    zen under § 1401.” 
    Solis-Espinoza, 401 F.3d at 1094
    .
    Section 230 applies to Martinez-Madera as well. Martinez-
    Madera’s non-biological father publicly acknowledged and
    treated Martinez-Madera as his own son since the age of six
    months. Section 230 therefore requires this Court to treat
    MARTINEZ-MADERA v. HOLDER                        3371
    Martinez-Madera as legitimate from the time of his birth.
    Thus, § 1409 does not apply and Martinez-Madera derives
    United States citizenship through his non-biological father
    pursuant to § 1401.
    The majority attempts to distinguish Scales and Solis-
    Espinoza on the ground that Martinez-Madera was born “out
    of wedlock” because his parents were not married at the time
    of his birth.1 However, this difference does not vitiate the
    requirement of Scales and Solis-Espinoza that we look to state
    law to determine whether the petitioner is legitimately the
    child of the citizen parent.
    III
    In looking to state law, Scales and Solis-Espinoza adhered
    to an express provision of the INA. We have previously held:
    Legitimacy is a legal concept, and the law deter-
    mines whether and under what circumstances a child
    it has denominated illegitimate may become legiti-
    mate. The Immigration and Nationality Act provides
    that a child who is unmarried and under twenty-one
    years of age can be legitimated under the law of the
    child’s residence or domicile, or under the law of the
    father’s residence or domicile, whether in or outside
    the United States, if such legitimation takes place
    before the child reaches the age of eighteen years
    and the child is in the legal custody of the legitimat-
    ing parent or parents at the time of such legitimation.
    Burgess v. Meese, 
    802 F.2d 338
    , 340 (9th Cir. 1986) (empha-
    1
    The majority cites a Fifth Circuit case in support of its conclusion. See
    Marquez-Marquez v. Gonzales, 
    455 F.3d 548
    (5th Cir. 2006). Aside from
    being non-binding on this Court, Marquez-Marquez does not explicitly
    evaluate whether Marquez-Marquez was born into wedlock under the rele-
    vant state law.
    3372             MARTINEZ-MADERA v. HOLDER
    sis added) (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1101(b)(1)(C) (1983)); see also
    
    Scales, 232 F.3d at 1163
    (quoting an earlier version of the
    same statute, 8 U.S.C. § 1101(c)(1) (1976), containing identi-
    cal language).
    Congress has expressly provided that a child who is consid-
    ered “legitimated” under applicable state law is also to be
    considered “legitimated” for the purposes of immigration law.
    The majority ignores this express provision.
    IV
    Denying Martinez-Madera’s derivative citizenship claim
    also contravenes the public policy considerations we have tra-
    ditionally respected in such cases.
    First, as we observed in Solis-Espinoza: “Public policy sup-
    ports recognition and maintenance of a family unit. The INA
    was intended to keep families together. It should be construed
    in favor of family units and the acceptance of responsibility
    by family 
    members.” 401 F.3d at 1094
    . See also H.R. Rep.
    85-1199, pt. 2, reprinted in 1957 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2016, 2021
    (the INA “implements the underlying intentions of our immi-
    gration laws regarding the preservation of the family unit.”).
    Martinez-Madera lived with his parents and siblings as a fam-
    ily unit throughout his entire childhood and has resided in the
    United States for over forty years. To deny him derivative cit-
    izenship and deport him to Mexico is unjust, illogical, and
    does nothing to further U.S. immigration policy.
    Second, the majority’s interpretation violates the principles
    of cooperative federalism. “Family relations are a traditional
    area of state concern.” Moore v. Sims, 
    442 U.S. 415
    ,
    435(1979); see also H.C. ex rel. Gordon v. Koppel, 
    203 F.3d 610
    , 613 (9th Cir. 2000) (noting the importance of the state
    interest in family relations). Federal courts have no general
    jurisdiction over domestic relations, Ankenbrandt v. Richards,
    
    504 U.S. 689
    , 697-701(1992), while “state courts have a spe-
    MARTINEZ-MADERA v. HOLDER                         3373
    cial expertise and experience” in family relations, H.C., 203
    at 613 (citing Hisquierdo v. Hisquierdo, 
    439 U.S. 572
    , 581
    (1979)).
    The best method of advancing these two policy objectives
    is to hold—consistent with the INA, Solis-Espinoza, and
    Scales—that state law governs determinations of legitimacy.
    V
    For all of these reasons, I would hold that courts should
    look to state law to determine whether a person may properly
    be considered “legitimate” or “born in wedlock” for the pur-
    poses of § 1401. Applying state law, I would hold that
    Martinez-Madera is “for all purposes legitimate” under Cal.
    Civ. Code § 2302 and is entitled to derivative citizenship
    under § 1401.
    Because the majority has concluded otherwise, I must
    respectfully dissent.
    2
    The majority additionally argues that even if California law should
    determine whether Martinez-Madera was born out of wedlock, he has not
    met the requirements of Cal. Civ. Code § 230 because that statute is appli-
    cable only to biological fathers. This argument relies on dicta from an
    1892 California Supreme Court case. Although we normally follow a state
    supreme court’s interpretation of a state statute, California caselaw simply
    does not answer the question of whether Cal. Civ. Code § 230 permits a
    step-father to legitimize his wife’s biological child. Absent clear direction
    from the California Supreme Court, which we do not have here, there is
    no compelling reason to interpret the California statute in the manner sug-
    gested by the majority.