this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2025
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For Reference:

Light blue countries have restrictions (such as permanent residency) so I wanna hear your opinions as well.

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[–] RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz 1 points 7 hours ago

No. Because I don't think citizenship is solely about what plot of land you are born on.

[–] PlzGivHugs@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago

I theoretically, I would say I'm generally against it, with the understanding the citizenship is not the same as permission to live/work in the country nor the same as permission to access services.

Citizenship should generally mean that the country is your "home country" rather than place of origin. In that case, citizenship should be given to those who want to commit to participating in and improving the government and culture of the country (if only because thats where they spend most time). Where you were born doesn't relate to this strongly. What matters is how much time you'll spend here in the future, such as if your parents are citizens or permanent residents (meaning you'll likely grow up here) or if you want to move to the country permanently.

Basically, where you're born shouldn't matter. What should is your intent on living in the society you've gained influence in.

[–] Miaou@jlai.lu 22 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Surprised at the amount of commenters here fine with making kids' lives worse because they're afraid of brown people.

Two weeks ago I learned about someone losing her child's custody because the kid doesn't have citizenship, and her PR doesn't extend to the kid, so the dad had to get full custody or the kid had to fly back (by themselves apparently). This is the kind of shit jus soli helps with.

If your nationality is tied to your blood rather than your identity, you have an ethnostate, not a nation.

[–] ramble81@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 day ago

Wow. I’m looking at all these “no” responses and they ring so much of the MAGAt’s yelling about “anchor babies”.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I mean, in most of the cases on the map it's actually brown people afraid of other brown people. America invented racism, or at least the main kind of racism, but being a bigot in other ways is ancient and ubiquitous.

[–] Ceedoestrees@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Lotta people in here have never had to immigrate. If the first thing you think of when you hear "immigration" is brown people trying to trick their way into a country, you might be a terrible fucking person.

Jus soli should always be an option because the harder it is to get citizenship, the harder that family's life is going to be, regardless of circumstances. No single person should have to suffer just because of where they or their parents were born when there are other options.

[–] PlzGivHugs@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Wouldn't the correct answer in that case just be to make it easier to immigrate and gain citizenship, rather than expecting you to be born there?

[–] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Wouldn't the correct answer in that case just be to make it easier to immigrate and gain citizenship,

And the answer to climate change is to stop using carbon sources.

And the answer to wealth inequality is to tax the rich.

Lots of hard problems have simple answers. They're easy, and impossible to implement.

[–] PlzGivHugs@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago

So we give up with a half-measure, that helps the rich moreso than the poor without addressing the underlying issue?

This isn't a helpful or sustainable approach. Should we give up on climate change because reducing carbon output is hard, or say, "Well, as long as you don't use coal, its good enough." Of course not. Not to mention that making immigration and/or citizenship more accessible isn't an impossible task at all, esspecially relative to climate change or weath inequality.

[–] Ceedoestrees@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

The question wasn't about expecting people to be born in the country they wish to live, it was about whether citizenship by jus soli should be an option without conditions.

As a whole, yes, I believe immigration should be easier. Citizenship by birth should be one of the routes available.

[–] PlzGivHugs@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The question wasn't about expecting people to be born in the country they wish to live, it was about whether citizenship by jus soli should be an option without conditions.

But why should it be an option if you don't and/or don't intend to live there?

[–] Ceedoestrees@lemmy.world 1 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Because it should always be an option? An option is optional, which means you don't have to use it.

[–] PlzGivHugs@sh.itjust.works 2 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

I don't see why voting or having political influence in a country you have no commitment to is a good thing. It seems to me that it just makes it easier to abuse the systems in place without having to live with the consequences.

[–] Ceedoestrees@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

That's assuming foreign parents who had no intention of staying in a country decided to take the option of granting their child citizenship to that country for no reason. Then, that child lives somewhere that allows dual citizenship. And then, that child, once grown up in a foreign country, who has no commitment or interest in the nation of their birth, goes out of their way to vote and exert political influence on the country to which they have no commitment.

In those few, extremely rare cases are enough to fuck up a nation's politics, immigration isn't the problem.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/optional

[–] PlzGivHugs@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

In those few, extremely rare cases are enough to fuck up a nation's politics, immigration isn't the problem.

They're rare, but not impossible, esspecially when it comes to the involvement of powerful/rich governments, corporations or individuals. We already have enough of that, no reason to make it easier for effectively no gain.

Edit: esspecially considering that ability to chose the location your child is born in is based primarily off wealth rather than moral character or anything else positive.

[–] ViatorOmnium@piefed.social 26 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Nationality should be about building a community, so nationality should be given if the parents have an effective connection to the country. For this reason I think the best solution is combining nationality "by blood" (i.e. if one of the parents is a national), restricted "jus soli" (i.e. children of permanent residents get the nationality too), and, as an exception, I believe children that would otherwise be stateless should get nationality on birth to fix the glaring human rights issue.

As for children naturalisation, I believe any child that does most of mandatory schooling in a country should automatically get nationality.

This being said, I also believe that very few rights and duties should be restricted to nationals. People shouldn't have to live in fear of having their entire life upturned or not have access to services and social support just because they have the wrong passport.

[–] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 17 points 1 day ago

People shouldn't have to live in fear of having their entire life upturned or not have access to services and social support just because they have the wrong passport.

Very important aspect! Thank you for mentioning this.

[–] DeuxChevaux@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Fully agree. I would add that a child should be able to opt out in case their 'other country' does not allow multiple citizenships.

[–] daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 day ago

You should know that the Americas case is an exception because colonialism. It's not even a "good" thing. It's just a residue of the excuse settlers used to take natives lands without their consent.

[–] Affidavit@lemmy.world -3 points 1 day ago

No. People will use children as tools to migrate. They already do to an extent, but this would exacerbate it significantly. People should have children because they want to raise a family, not to use them as a tool to bypass inconvenient red tape.

[–] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org -2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

No. In our country, the majority bellieves that descent should be the first criterion that decides citizenship, and I belong to that majority. During recent years, it has been made much easier for foreigners to acquire citizenship, so that's somewhat balanced now.

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 9 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Why should descent be required?

[–] ViatorOmnium@piefed.social 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

A "nation" is a community, and without conducting a full investigation into every individual birth, the two main indicators that a child will likely have strong ties to a national community are:

  1. the parents already belong to that national community
  2. the parents reside permanently in the country. Almost all countries in the mid shade of blue use this criteria for restricted birthright.
[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 4 points 11 hours ago

A nation isn’t a community, at least not in any real, human sense. We barely even know many of our neighbors, let alone those across the country.

The fact that it’s common doesn’t make it right. All of these policies were adopted following the rise of race science, fascism, nationalism, etc. It’s surprising people haven’t started to push back on them more yet.

[–] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org -2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

"Required"? That's looking at it from a funny angle. Descent is not usually lacking. Don't you have parents?

Descent simply decides which citizenship you have, at first. That's all. But if you feel you "require" a different descent, then I don't know... :)

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 2 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Well, you’re denying people certain basic freedoms based on who their parents were. Not all countries provide citizenship based on ancestry, and this means that denying birthright citizenship can lead to statelessness, which is very dangerous for those people. So for them, it is a requirement for a basic and normal life free from state violence.

[–] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 0 points 8 hours ago

Nobody does any denying. Things are just as they have been since ... ancient times.

can lead to statelessness

Purely theoretical, since the other countries around have it the same way. Zero such cases per year.