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JLeslie's avatar

Do you look at citizenship in the Americas differently than other countries?

Asked by JLeslie (65775points) January 16th, 2019
4 responses
“Great Question” (0points)

I hope I can explain this well.

The Americas are the New World and the countries on the continent(s) of America developed with a lot of diversity among the citizenry. Being American, whether it be North or Latin America, for most people also means your ancestry goes back to another country.

What about Europe? Would it be very odd for a Chinese person to say they are German? For a Mexican to say they are German? For an Italian to call themselves Japanese. These two countries in particular have put up a lot of obstacles for immigrants to become citizens.

Yesterday, I was talking to German friends (both were born and raised in Chile, but live in Germany now, and their parents were German) and I asked them about the Syrian refugees and if they can be German eventually. Their response was basically in the tone of no way, they aren’t German. They were complaining about how many immigrants Germany has been taking in, not just the Syrians, but in general, and even complaining about people coming from other Western European countries, or more specifically southwestern Europe that are part of the European Union.

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Answers

seawulf575's avatar

I will remain constant in my answers. It doesn’t matter the country of origin nor the country granting citizenship. In all cases, it has to be done legally. If the host country doesn’t grant actual citizenship, then you are out of luck. Most will give visas for various lengths of time these days, but that is more like a visit, or a temp job sort of thing.
We in the USA are much more likely than some countries to grant citizenship because of our relatively short history of existence and immigration.

ARE_you_kidding_me's avatar

I think citizenship and ethnicity are being confused. A naturalized citizen of America is still an immigrant but it’s easier for someone to say they are “American” in that situation than in other countries. American culture is a melting pot unlike other countries that have more independently developed their own over a long period of time. In those countries culture and ethnicity are closely linked but not so much here.

JLeslie's avatar

@seawulf575 This question is NOT about illegal vs. legal. I’m only talking about legal here. This is not a question about the American southern border. It is a question about whether some laws on citizenship might be too stringent in some countries, because of feelings regarding ethnicity and citizenship as pointed out by @ARE_you_kidding_me. In fact he is at the essence of the question. But, now with more migration happening in Europe they need to deal with the effects of this. Are they going to deny a path to citizenship to people because they aren’t “German” in the case of Germany, etc. In the United States of America, aside from the babble regarding the current immigration situation, we have an extremely diverse group of citizens in our country. It’s simply what we are since the beginnings of our country. I’d say it’s a similar feeling and circumstance in all of the Americas.

seawulf575's avatar

@JLeslie that’s fine, but my answer still stands. The view points people have about legal and illegal immigration have your question at the base. How people view citizenship is the root of their viewpoint of legal and illegal. You pointed out your German friends. They have a strong sense of country and nationality. We, in the USA, don’t since our history is far shorter and has been so heavily influenced by immigration. There are some in this country that have the view that by the mere act of entering this country should be grounds for citizenship. They feel that a child born in this country to someone that entered illegally should be a basis for citizenship for not just that child, but for the extended family as well. We have a much different view of what a citizen actually is in this country. In other nations, they have varying degrees of nation. They have a differing views on what citizenship means and how important it is.

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