text: does a us born child have to be 21 for parents to be legal in the usa? parents are from canada.?   technically, children born in the u.s. whose parents are not citizens of the u.s. are not automatically u.s. citizens (contrary to popular myth).  that being said, even if the child is a u.s. citizen the parents do not automatically become u.s. citizens.  they must go through the naturalization process like every other citizen-to-be must.  the 17th amendment deals with the popular election of senators, not u.s. citizenship.  the 14th amendmendment deals with citizenship, the due process of law, and the election of representatives.  i stand partially corrected, however.  there is currently an ongoing debate whether or not children of illegal immigrants born in the u.s. are automatically citizens.  since the parents have not vowed to relinquished their loyalty to their home country they are not "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" of the u.s.  this will likely be heatedly debated for the next few years until the illegal immigration problem in this country is worked out.  regardless, the canadian parents still need to go through the naturalization process...they cannot "automatically" become citizens.