What countries grant unrestricted birth-right citizenship?
In the final days of US Midterm election, another tweet by Donald Trump has caused a stir among the US citizens. He declared that children born in the United States should not be given citizenship automatically, and it is the only country to have the enshrined law. He wants to assert certain changes, and does not support the law that even the children of immigrants are provided with birth-right citizenship in the USA.
Jus Soli translating to ‘law of soil’ is the right which provides unrestricted citizenship. The 14th amendment of US constitution states that American citizenship is a birthright for all who are born on American soil, but the President seems against it. Trump mentions that jus soli can be conditional, and USA will soon add sub-clauses.
Numerous countries around the world provide citizenship at birth, if the individuals are born on their land, but there are certain terms and conditions that need to be met. For example, in majority countries one parent needs to be a citizen of the country or a legal resident, for acquiring citizenship. In the country of Malaysia, the condition is that the individual should be born to parents who are a permanent-resident foreigners. Some countries have changed their laws, and made them more restricted, such as in France, unlike before, individuals have to turn 18 to acquire nationality.
“We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States,” Trump claimed, and apparently he is unaware that USA is not unique in granting unrestricted citizenship. There are 30 countries which provide automatic birthright other than the USA. 26 of these countries belong to the Americas.
Here is the list :
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Chad, Chile, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Lesotho, Mexico, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay and Venezuela. Pakistan is the only country in Asia. and Chad is the only in Africa, that provides an unrestricted nationality.
The only restriction these countries may entail is that the individuals must not be born to foreign diplomats or to enemy forces which have occupied the country. Trump’s anti-immigration agenda is only getting stronger, even as the senate elections draw closer.
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