What is the right of citizenship by birth and which countries give it – Telemundo San Diego (20)
On his first day back at the White House, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that seeks to eliminate birthright citizenship in the United States, one of his main campaign promises.
This popular right, also known as “jus soli” (which means “right to land”), implies that every person who was born within the national territory will have the citizenship of that country, regardless of the immigration status of their parents.
He “jus soli” is the opposite of “jus sanguinis” (or “blood right”), by which citizenship is given only to those born whose parents are citizens of that country. The rules vary by country: some nations state that it must be both parents (such as Poland), others that it can be either (such as Spain), and others indicate that it must be the mother (such as Algeria) or it must be the father. (like Sweden).
The right is not an exclusive principle of the United States, although it is mainly common in the countries of the American continent, with the exception of Colombia, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Suriname and French Guiana.
In contrast, in the rest of the world it is only offered by Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Lesotho on the African continent and Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Nepal in Asia. All others grant the right according to “jus sanguinis”.
In the United States, the right to birthright citizenship has been granted based on the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified in 1868.
The Amendment says: “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 in which they reside.”
However, the 14th Amendment did not always guarantee birthright citizenship to all people born in the country, according to an AP report.
Trump’s order, which has already been legally challenged by several states in a lawsuit, affirms that the children of citizens are not subject to US jurisdiction.
We show you here which countries have citizenship by birth without restrictions or based on the status of your parents:
