In a scenario in which a pregnant Russian woman were to give birth while visiting the International Space Station, and if she were to give birth while on the American side of the ISS, would that baby be an American citizen based on America's Birthright Citizenship law?
In other words, does America's Birthright Citizenship law apply to the American side/sections of the ISS?
Seems Like It
Absurd hypotheticals aside, the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) specifies in Article V:
[E]ach Partner shall retain jurisdiction and control over the elements it registers...and over personnel in or on the Space Station who are its nationals.
This ESA resource summarizes:
The Intergovernmental Agreement allows the Space Station Partners States to extend their national jurisdiction in outer space, so the elements they provide (e.g. laboratories) are assimilated to the territories of the Partners States.
For ESA astronauts/modules, I believe this means property/jurisdiction of the EU.
This article interviewing a "space lawyer" explains it essentially as:
multiple embassies floating right over our heads
I think it's fair to say that if a Russian woman gave birth in, say, the Destiny module it would probably be treated the same as if she had walked into the U.S. and given birth. Of course, the U.S. and Russia could just as easily say that they are making an exception to the IGA for an unorthodox situation and that would probably be the end of discussion.
No. Although as stated in another answer, the International side of the ISS is under the jurisdiction and control of the relevant partners, that doesn't mean that those modules are the TERRITORY of the relevant states. It is a lot like embassies, which, despite the Simpsons episode to the contrary, are absolutely not territory of their home state, despite being subject to their home state laws. The 14th Amendment of the U.S. constitution requires being born "in the United States" AND being subject to the jurisdiction of the United States (eg not a foreign diplomat located in the U.S.) for birthright citizenship. Babies on an American module of the ISS would meet the second criteria but not the first.
Adding a reference to an excellent SE answer about why babies born in U.S. embassies are NOT automatically American citizens. Same reasons I've described above. https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/2318/are-persons-born-in-u-s-embassies-u-s-citizens-if-their-parents-are-not-citiz
With all due respect to SpaceLawyer, comparing the ISS to an embassy is not accurate. It would be more accurate to compare the ISS to an aircraft. Under the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation, articles 17–21, all aircraft have the nationality of the State in which they are registered, and may not have multiple nationalities. However a U.S.-registered aircraft outside U.S. airspace is not considered to be part of U.S. territory. A child born on such an aircraft outside U.S. airspace does not acquire U.S. citizenship by reason of the place of birth. On the other hand, "Comments on the applicability of the 14th Amendment to vessels and planes, are found in Gordon, Immigration Law and Procedure, Part 8, Nationality and Citizenship, Chapter 92, 92.03 (New York: Matthew Bender, 2007). This volume states:
“The rules applicable to vessels obviously apply equally to airplanes. Thus a child born on a plane in the United States or flying over its territory would acquire United States citizenship at birth.”"
So, the question then becomes where was the ISS when the baby was born? Over the US? That may be a factor, but I would defer to SpaceLawyer on whether or not US airspace extends to the orbit of ISS under the law. If it does, then most likely the situation is the same as if a Russian mom delivers a baby on a United flight over Wisconsin: the baby is American by jus soli. If not, then the situation is that of a Russian mom delivering a baby on a United flight over international waters, and the baby would not acquire US citizenship. He/she would be Russian.
