birthright citizenship

[ burth-rahyt sit-uh-zuhn-ship ]

noun

1. the practice of automatically granting citizenship to a child born in a particular country, regardless of the citizenship status of the parent or parents:

   an end to birthright citizenship.

2. the state of having such citizenship:

   to grant birthright citizenship to the child of new immigrants.

Word History and Origins

Origin of birthright citizenship¹

First recorded in 1845–50

Example Sentences

They ended legal slavery, adopted birthright citizenship and prohibited using race as grounds to disqualify a man from voting through the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution.

From Washington Post

Canada and the United States are the only industrialized countries that retain birthright citizenship.

From The Daily Beast

Many Tea Partiers want to repeal the 14th Amendment, which provides for birthright citizenship.

From The Daily Beast

He wants to interpret the 14th Amendment of the Constitution to deny birthright citizenship for immigrants who have children here.

From The Daily Beast

He is against changing the 14th Amendment to remove birthright citizenship.

From The Daily Beast

Defending birthright citizenship is about being on the right side of liberty.

From The Daily Beast