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US Citizenship by Birth – Being Born in the USA May No Longer Make You a Citizen

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  • US President Trump vows to sign an executive order ending birthright citizenship.
  • The proposed move would go against the US constitution
  • Over 30 countries across the world offer citizenship by birth

Are you a US Citizenship by birth? You could no longer be a citizen.

There are currently four ways one can become a citizen of the USA; by being born in the USA, by being born to parents who are citizens of the country, by naturalization or by the naturalization of one’s parents.

President Trump’s latest announcement threatens to reduce the routes to citizenship to only three. On Tuesday, he said in a television broadcast that he vowed to sign an executive order to end citizenship by birth.

This would mean that babies being born in the USA would not get citizenship only if their parents were citizens or green card holders. The move is being seen as a highly aggressive one and one that might go against the constitution of the USA.

US citizenship by birth

Current Rules for Citizenship by Birth

The fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States was made on July 9th, 1868. According to the Citizenship clause in this amendment, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

This applies to babies born on the US mainland, Puerto Rico, Panama Canal, Guam, Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands as well as to those born in US water and airspace.

These babies may also get dual citizenship based on their parent’s nationality. India does not recognize dual citizenship and hence the parents would have to decide whether the baby became an Indian citizen or an America citizen. However, once the baby grew up, he or she could decide to get back his/ her US citizenship.

Opposition to Citizenship by Birth

The opposition to citizenship by birth has been growing since the 1990s. Some people fear that to-be parents may travel to the United States only to give birth to their babies so that the child gets citizenship.

Since a citizen can sponsor his / her parents for permanent residency and citizenship, this route was seen as a way for immigrants to get citizenship for themselves. This is also referred to as an Anchor baby situation.

President Trump’s Proposal and the Reaction to It

Changing the constitution to make a change in the citizenship policy is a long process and hence President Trump has vowed to change it by issuing an executive order. While some see this announcement as a way to draw attention away from other issues, others are seeing it as a way to fan the flames against immigrants before the midterm elections. The legality of the announcement is also being questioned as if this order is given, it would go against the constitution.

Other Countries that Offer Citizenship by Birth

Though President Trump said that “We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in, has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States for 85 years with all of those benefits,” there are over thirty other countries that offer citizenship by birth.

This includes Canada, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Tanzania, Venezuela, Paraguay, Pakistan, and Mexico. In most other countries, one or both parents must be a citizen of the country for the baby to get citizenship by birth.

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