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children, is directly supported by Lehr v. Robertson, 463 U. S. 248. Pp. 433-441.
(c) The argument that § 1409(a)(4) is unconstitutional because it is a stereotypical "gender-based classification" must be rejected. None of the governmental interests underlying § 1409(a)(4) can be fairly characterized as an accidental byproduct of a traditional way of thinking about the members of either sex. The biological differences between single men and single women provide a relevant basis for differing rules governing their ability to confer citizenship on children born out of wedlock in foreign lands, and an impartial analysis of those differences rebuts the strong presumption that gender-based legal distinctions are suspect. Pp. 442-445.
Justice O'Connor, joined by Justice Kennedy, concluded that petitioner should not be accorded standing to raise her father's gender discrimination claim. This Court applies a presumption against third-party standing as a prudential limitation on the exercise of federal jurisdiction, see, e. g., Singleton v. Wulff, 428 U. S. 106, 113, and that presumption may only be rebutted in particular circumstances: where a litigant has suffered injury in fact and has a close relation to a third party, and where some hindrance to the third party's ability to protect his or her own interests exists, see Powers v. Ohio, 499 U. S. 400, 411. Petitioner has not demonstrated a genuine obstacle to her father's ability to assert his own rights that rises to the level of a hindrance. Accordingly, she is precluded from raising his equal protection claims in this case. Although petitioner may still assert her own rights, she cannot invoke a gender discrimination claim that would trigger heightened scrutiny. Section 1409 draws a distinction based on the gender of the parent, not the child, and any claim of discrimination based on differential treatment of illegitimate versus legitimate children is not presented in the question on which certiorari was granted. Thus, petitioner's own constitutional challenge is subject only to rational basis scrutiny. Even though § 1409 could not withstand heightened scrutiny, it is sustainable under the lower standard. Pp. 445-452.
Justice Scalia, joined by Justice Thomas, agreed with the outcome of this case on the ground that the complaint must be dismissed because the Court has no power to provide the relief requested: conferral of citizenship on a basis other than that prescribed by Congress. Petitioner, having been born outside United States territory, can only become a citizen by naturalization under congressional authority. See, e. g., United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U. S. 649, 702-703. If there is no congressional enactment granting her citizenship, she remains an alien. By its plain language, 8 U. S. C. § 1409 sets forth a precondition to the acquisition of citizenship that petitioner admittedly has not met.
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