Supreme Court reaffirms birthright citizenship: What other countries have similar laws?

Data Visualization Journalist

More than 30 countries allow for unrestricted birthright citizenship, including the United States.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court upheld a broad conception of birthright citizenship, rejecting President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring that children born to people in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens.

The justices in their decision in a New Hampshire case Tuesday relied on a long-settled understanding of the 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War, and more recent federal laws in ruling anyone born in the country is a citizen, with limited exceptions. The Republican president’s restrictions had been blocked by several lower courts and had not taken effect.

Birthright citizenship means that a person born in a country, regardless of their parents’ immigration status, is automatically a citizen of that country. It is protected in the U.S. by the 14th Amendment.

Most of the countries that allow for birthright citizenship are concentrated in North and South America.

Both U.S. neighbors, Canada and Mexico, allow unrestricted birthright citizenship, as do all but two countries in South America.

In the Eastern Hemisphere, Lesotho, Tanzania and Pakistan are among the countries that grant automatic citizenship to those born on their soil.