Credit: Star Tribune

The U.S. government wants to deport Ali Abdalla to Somalia. The hurdle? The Twin Cities man insists he is an American.

The case hinges on a simple but disputed biographical detail: Abdalla's birth date.

Officially, he was born Jan. 1, a date assigned to thousands of refugees like him from countries where many don't know their birthdays or don't have government records. But his family says his actual birthday was months later, which would mean Abdalla was a minor when his father was naturalized in July 2003 and he automatically became a U.S. citizen, too.