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> USA's birthright citizenship is somewhat unique amongst countries. It's certainly not unique. It's the norm in the Americas, including for example Canada: ht
by pcwalton 10y ago
> USA's birthright citizenship is somewhat unique amongst countries.
It's certainly not unique. It's the norm in the Americas, including for example Canada: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli
> It's certainly at least questionable that children of citizens of other countries born here are subject to our jurisdiction.
Some people question whether you have to pay income tax too.
Jus soli in the United States is long since settled legal doctrine. Changing it would require a constitutional amendment.
- jack9 10y ago> Changing it would require a constitutional amendment. That's a matter of opinion. "Settled legal doctrine" changes all the time. Every administration advances their own agendas by changing the context and arguments or straight up defying a prior decisions. Stating a "my best guess is it needs an amendament" is the only thing that can be said. This is not the same as saying "can't happen without an amendment".
- pvg 10y ago"Settled legal doctrine" changes all the time. Can you think of one with as strong a constitutional basis as birthright citizenship that "changes all the time"? The US government under multiple administrations struggled mightily for decades to revoke the citizenship of a single naturalized Nazi. No administration has the slightest chance of depriving millions of current citizens of citizenship by having strong feelings about it.