Key facts
- Mexico, like the United States, grants citizenship to children born within its borders.
- President Donald Trump is seeking to end birthright citizenship for children of parents living in the U.S. illegally or with temporary legal status.
- Approximately three dozen countries, mostly in the Americas, guarantee automatic citizenship to children born on their territory.
- Vivianne Petit Frere, a Haitian immigrant in Tijuana, Mexico, has a granddaughter born in Mexico who is a Mexican citizen.
- Mexico allows parents of children with birthright citizenship to become permanent residents.
Mexico, like the United States, grants birthright citizenship to children born within its borders, a policy that President Donald Trump is seeking to end in the U.S. Trump has claimed the U.S. is unique in this regard, but approximately three dozen countries, many in the Americas, also provide automatic citizenship to those born on their soil.
Vivianne Petit Frere, a Haitian immigrant who has established a life and business in Tijuana, Mexico, exemplifies this. Her granddaughter, Alexca, was born in Mexico and is automatically a Mexican citizen. Petit Frere, who fled Haiti in 2019 and traveled through Central America, found Mexico to be more welcoming than her intended destination, the U.S. She believes her granddaughter's Mexican citizenship will provide greater opportunities and ease of travel.
Mexico's policy allows parents of children with birthright citizenship to obtain permanent residency, a pathway that has helped many Haitian families in Tijuana establish legal status. This contrasts with the Dominican Republic, which in 2007 ordered the denial of citizenship to children of parents without legal status, leading to widespread statelessness.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of Trump's executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship, a practice rooted in the 14th Amendment and historical legal interpretations.