An end of birthright citizenship in the US and Canada would close more doors for Chinese parents
- Chauncey Jung writes that recent attacks on birthright citizenship are happening as China’s metropolises toughen standards for migrant workers
- For decades, migration has been the key to a better life for many Chinese, and these shifts will hit the middle class especially hard
It is obvious that Trump’s executive order, if issued, would face harsh media criticism and legal challenges. Many argue that the 14th Amendment still safeguards birthright citizenship for all newborn babies on American soil. Be it a targeted policy against foreign nationals’ birth tourism or simply a reinforcement for Trump’s “America first” views, it clearly shows Trump’s hostility towards foreign nationals living and working in the US, regardless of their actual immigration status.
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Even if these American-born children of Chinese parents want to settle in their parents’ native country and become Chinese citizens, the path is much simpler than becoming a naturalised Canadian or American citizen. All they have to do is to give up their American or Canadian citizenship and they will inherit Chinese citizenship from their parents.
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These Chinese families considering expensive birth tourism trips have more than economic benefits to think about. As a country under the hukou household registration system, Chinese citizens’ access to benefits is restricted based not only on their economic status, but also their official place of residence.
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Domestic migration has been a major factor pushing China’s economic boom over the past 40 years, with talented individuals and migrant workers flooding into Chinese metropolitan areas such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, not only for higher incomes, but also for a chance to change their hukou status.
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Chinese officials’ conservative attitudes have made it more difficult for individuals to obtain hukou, regardless of their education and wealth level. It takes at least seven years to obtain a Beijing hukou, roughly the same amount of time as in Shanghai, provided that they fulfil a series of requirements, such as contributing to social security. For mainland Chinese looking to become Hong Kong permanent residents, that process would be at least seven years of living in the city legally.
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While these restrictions may not apply to ultra-rich individuals who can clear their path through connections and wealth, regular individuals see huge hurdles to reaching the middle-class status they hope to achieve. The burden also passes to their children: in China, children’s hukou is not determined by the city they are born in, but the hukou their parents hold at the time.
Being an anchor baby means automatically acquiring many things that one’s parents have to work hard for, day after day, for years. However, if developed Western countries go through with plans to eliminate birthright citizenship, it will be harder for those Chinese middle-class families to change their newborn children’s fates.
Chauncey Jung is a China internet specialist who previously worked for various Chinese internet companies in Beijing