• Hildegarde@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    13 hours ago

    Most people are citizens of where they also live and give birth so this distinction doesn’t come up in most cases. But for children born to immigrants or travelers it does.

    Citizenship can either be assigned by where you were born, or who you were born to.

    Birthright citizenship, as we use the term in the US, is mostly a new world invention. In nearly all countries in the americas, any children born here are citizens without exception. No matter the parents, no matter the circumstances.

    In the old world, most countries require a parent to be a citizen in order for the child to also be a citizen.

    Generally if an american couple gives birth in Europe, the child will just be american, despite where they were born. If a European couple gives birth in any of the americas, their child will be a citizen of the americas, despite anything else