Earlier this week, Donald Trump signed a new executive order which attempts to end so-called “birthright citizenship” in the United States. During the signing ceremony, Trump declared that the United States is “the only country in the world that does this with birthright…”
This is untrue and the Washington Post, among other publications, was quick to declare that Trump “falsely claimed” that the US is the only country with birthright citizenship, also known as the legal principle of unrestricted—or “pure”—jus soli.
Trump would have been accurate, however, had he said that birthright citizenship is becoming rare, and that it is especially rare among those wealthier countries that experience positive net in-migration. In many countries, as generous welfare states attract growing numbers of migrants, the idea of unrestricted jus soli has become less popular.
Indeed, Europe no longer contains any states that offer birthright citizenship, and others have added new restrictions to what jus soli provisions they have.
Decline of Jus Soli in Europe
Since the early modern period, migration between European states has been a significant phenomenon, and these numbers increased many times over during the Industrial Revolution. It was often the case, however, that these migrations were seasonal or limited to relatively small enclaves of minority populations. Moreover, many areas of Europe were experiencing labor shortages since, throughout most of this period, Europe was a continent of emigration rather than immigration. After all, during the nineteenth century alone, millions of Europeans emigrated to the Americas. […]
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