A 12-year-old boy born to a Nigerian mother and a U.S. service member faces deportation after U.S. authorities questioned his citizenship.The case in Alaska has drawn attention as U.S. immigration officials seek DNA testing to confirm the boy’s link to his father, a naturalized U.S. citizen who served in the military. The boy’s lawyer said his father refused to take the test.The child lives in Anchorage and may be deported along with his mother. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requires genetic proof of paternity.“This child can’t prove he’s a citizen, and now the government is trying to deport him,” Margaret Stork, an attorney with the Cascadia Cross-Border Legal Group in Anchorage, Alaska, told Newsweek .They added: “He has not been detained yet. They have not come to seize him and put him in a detention center, but they have taken him into deportation proceedings. So it is very important for him to prove his citizenship to stop them from deporting him.”According to the legal team, the boy was born in Türkiye to a Nigerian mother and his father, Bolanle Meshach Akinleye, served in the U.S. Army. The family later moved to the United States on a visitor visa.The lawyer added that officials continued the deportation proceedings despite her strong supporting evidence, including photos, videos of birthday celebrations and other personal records showing a paternity.Additionally, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said the boy and his mother were in the country illegally and had not proven citizenship.The spokesperson also suggested the option of voluntary self-deportation, saying: “Parents can use the CBP Home app to control their departure and preserve the opportunity to return in the correct and legal manner. The United States is now offering $2,600 rewards to illegal immigrants and the opportunity to self-deport for free. We encourage every illegal immigrant to take advantage of this offer and preserve the opportunity to return to the United States the right and legal way to live the American Dream. If you fail to do so, you will be arrested and deported with no chance of return. “The case comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing challenges to birthright citizenship and a 2025 executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship. If the courts insist on stricter rules, more cases like this could arise, and people may need DNA tests to prove citizenship.The lawyer added: “So if Trump succeeds in overturning the 14th Amendment at the U.S. Supreme Court, we will see many more cases like this. In fact, we will see hundreds of thousands of these cases.”A court hearing in the boy’s case is scheduled for January 2027, while his mother’s asylum application remains pending
