Citizenship
That gets complicated
I told myself when I switched over to Substack that I’d trend away from political posts. I thought, “Self, a publisher trying to sell books to the vast public should probably keep his personal politics on the quiet.”
Yeah, that lasted. Sigh.
Here recently the diploma printers at Internet U. and The College of Google are working overtime going “BRRRT!” on many, many different subjects, so I thought I’d throw in my two cents worth on one that I actually have some experience with.
Citizenship is at the same time rather complicated, and rather simple. On the simple side, citizenship via birth is determined on the main by two international conventions: the law of Jus Soli1 which comes from English Common Law and refers to gaining citizenship from the country whose territory you were born upon; and the law of Jus Sanguinis2 which comes to us from the French Civil Code and refers to gaining citizenship of the country your parent(s) are citizens of.
As an example, I have dual nationality3. I was born on the island of Malta, which — at the time of my birth — recognized the law of Jus Soli. I was born on Maltese soil, therefore I have Maltese citizenship. At the same time my father was a citizen of the United States, as was my mother, thus under the law of Jus Sanguinis I am a citizen of the United States.
Long-time Gentle Readers will remember my decades-long struggle to obtain a replacement copy of my FS-2404, this was required since I am American, but born outside the territory of the United States. Off the soil, so to speak, and thus I don’t have an American birth certificate.
This state of international affairs trundled along quite nicely, until folks on the shadier side of things figured out there was money to be made in so-called “Birth Tourism”. This is, when you cut out all the fancy talk, the practice of paying Sum Dood for a ticket to a country with Jus Soli laws, a place to stay, and help acquiring the birth certificate after the Blessed Event; and is one of the areas where citizenship starts to get complicated. You may, or may not, be surprised to learn that this is — officially — a multi-million dollar per year business. Unofficially? Probably closer to multi-billion.
And, of course, there are the so-called “anchor babies”: babies born to illegal immigrants on U.S soil. While no broker is making money off of this, the child still has citizenship just by being born on that country’s soil.
The abuses of Jus Soli — either real or perceived — became so pervasive that a whole bunch of countries up and started modifying laws of Jus Soli in the latter half of the 20th Century — Malta ended that right as of 01 AUG 1989.
As I type this, the CIA factbook5 counts 237 countries on this little green dirtball. Of those 237 nations, only 33 recognize unrestricted Jus Soli. 204 countries either only recognize Jus Sanguinis, or follow a heavily-modified version of Jus Soli.
Why should anyone care about birthright citizenship? I don’t know about anyone else, but remember “Birth Tourism” above? Would you be shocked to learn that the lion’s share of people using birth tourism in the United States are from West Taiwan6 and Slavic Special Ed7?
I realize that what I’m about to write is considered rude, and somewhat shocking, but here goes: We’re in an undeclared war with China and Russia. We may not think so, and a whole bunch of Americans who should know better have their fingers jammed in their ears, singing “LA LA LA!” at the top of their lungs when you raise the subject, but burying your head in the sand on the subject doesn’t make it not so. Those countries think we’re at war, so we are.
That being said … you understand why the thought of several thousand kids over the last 30 years who have been raised in countries who consider themselves to be at war with the United States; several thousand kids who immediately went back to those countries with the legal possession of US passports and unlimited rights of travel to the US; several thousand kids who may or may not have been trained and indoctrinated to view the United States as a land to be defeated … does not fill me with the warm and fuzzies.
Speaking strategically, and as a veteran of the previous Cold War, the United States needs to join the rest of the world and stop honouring Jus Soli.
Ian
“Right of Soil.”
“Right of Blood.”
Yes, the United States happily — in certain circumstances one might even say enthusiastically — recognizes dual nationality.
Consular Report of Birth Abroad. https://www.usbirthcertificates.com/glossary/form-fs-240
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/
Peoples Republic of China, if you want to be picky.
The Russian Federation. If you’re not watching Habitual Line Crosser, you should be.
My personal opinion. Jus soli if your parents are green card holders, or at least have an accepted application for a green card, and are merely waiting for it to come through.
Everyone else? Jus sanguinis.
Yup. My wife came here and earned her citizenship the old-fashioned way. At her peak, she was working two full-time jobs and two part-time jobs. 5 of her 6 siblings came here by way of chain immigration over a 10 year period, waiting in line and a $15K expense on my part (real money in 1970s dollars). The other brother came here on his own and joined the Navy. All by the book and legal. Three of my brothers-in-law earned U.S. citizenship by serving in the Navy. A CWO4 w/ 31 years, E-7 w/ 26 years, and E-4 w/ 4 years. 3 sisters-in-law immigrated legally, got jobs, earned their citizenship, prospered. None of them ever took a dime of welfare. I have no liking for illegal immigrants. They are no better than line jumpers at Popeye's Chicken...which chaps my ass.