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The US constitution states that

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside.

Does this mean that anyone who is born in the US is automatically a US citizen, whether they want it or not? Or does this amendment just offer the possibility of requesting citizenship?

In other words: is there an action to be made in order to become a US citizen when born in the US (and therefore one is not before this action is performed)?

Note: this question is different from another one which deals with the "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" part. Mine is about the automatism (or lack of) of the acquisition.

WoJ
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    Possible duplicate of What is the meaning of “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” in the 14th amendment? – David Siegel Nov 06 '18 at 20:37
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    @DavidSiegel I would distinguish this question from the other because this one asks not about the meaning of the jurisdiction clause but about whether citizenship must be asserted by some affirmative act. – phoog Nov 06 '18 at 20:42
  • @DavidSiegel: I updated my question - it is not a duplicate indeed. – WoJ Nov 06 '18 at 20:47
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    I have retracted my vote to close as a duplicate – David Siegel Nov 06 '18 at 20:56
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    A baby does not understand what citizenship is, so "whether they want it or not" is meaningless. – Nacht Nov 06 '18 at 23:09
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    @Nacht: it is not meaningless at all. Having American citizenship has tremendous impacts in the way you handle taxes abroad. Someone born "by chance" in the US without any intent of having the citizenship is then in trouble (especially that it looks like they have to wait before being able to renounce it). This is different from jus sanguinis cases where there is obviously no chance involved (in how the citizenship is transferred) – WoJ Nov 07 '18 at 06:21
  • Maybe this is another question, but couldn't you just fly back to your home country and just never mention the baby was a US citizen? Who would know? Who would care? – JPhi1618 Nov 07 '18 at 15:01
  • @JPhi1618 in most countries, the child will need a birth certificate or other registration, and for international travel, the child will need a passport. Both of these will normally list the place of birth. – phoog Nov 07 '18 at 15:18
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    @WoJ I think Nacht's comment was that there is no way a newborn could want or not want citizenship. The capacity to form an opinion on the question will not develop until several years after the birth. – phoog Nov 07 '18 at 15:19
  • Ah, @WoJ by your contrasting with jus sanguinis, I suppose you meant whether the parents wanted the child to have citizenship or not, rather than the baby. That is a fair point. – Nacht Nov 08 '18 at 05:25
  • @JPhi1618: The US administration would know. At his/her next travel to the US as a taxpayer they would be in trouble for not having payed their taxes in the US (no matter where they live). Also the US will be able to demand extradition of their "citizen" from a third party country (this is an extreme case but still) – WoJ Nov 08 '18 at 06:15
  • @phoog: yes, I understand that. Having children, the "several years" can be many severals :) In any case I was thinking about the consequences of a birth on US soil + the lack of will (for the parents) to have the nationality. All is clear now. – WoJ Nov 09 '18 at 07:40

2 Answers2

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Does this mean that anyone who is born in the US is automatically a US citizen, whether they want it or not?

Yes (subject to a couple of exceptions, namely the children of diplomats with full immunity and the children of a hostile foreign occupier).

Or does this amendment just offer the possibility of requesting citizenship? In other words: is there an action to be made in order to become a US citizen when born in the US (and therefore one is not before this action is performed)?

No. For someone who falls under the 14th amendment's citizenship clause, the only way to avoid being a US citizen is to relinquish or renounce it, which generally means that one is stuck with the US citizenship for at least 18 years.

Most countries' citizenship laws, or at least all of those with which I am familiar, operate this way—automatically—for "normal" cases of acquisition of citizenship by virtue of the circumstances of birth. This is true whether the citizenship derives from the place of birth or from the parents' citizenship.

phoog
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If you're assuming that the child is "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," the child is a citizen of the United States, immediately upon birth.

No waiting, no paperwork, no red tape.

bdb484
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