The legal systems under which citizenship is acquired | Explained

The story so far: U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order stating that U.S. citizenship will be granted in the future only to children with parents holding U.S. citizenship or a U.S. green card.

Citizenship is defined as full and equal membership of a country. In the words of Hannah Arendt, citizenship is the ‘right to have rights’. There are two important legal systems based on which citizenship is acquired in various countries. One of them is ‘jus soli’ which means ‘right of soil.’ Under this principle, a child’s citizenship is determined by his or her place of birth irrespective of the citizenship of their parents. Many North American and Latin American countries like Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina etc., follow this principle while granting citizenship for children born within their country. The other is ‘jus sanguinis’ which means ‘right of blood.’ Under this principle, a child’s citizenship is determined by the citizenship of parents. Many African, European and Asian countries like Egypt, South Africa, Germany, India etc., follow this principle.