As we learned in Chapter 3 of O’Neil, there are two (main) types of citizenship (remember that citizenship describes the nature of one’s relationship to the state): jus sanguinis and jus soli. Like many states, the United States of America grants citizenship to individuals on the basis of both (and also on the basis of naturalization). The principle of jus soli gives persons citizenship status on the basis of being born on territory that the state formally controls.
The legitimacy, efficacy of jus soli has increasingly become questioned in some political circles in the United States (and in other countries that grant citizenship on that basis. Watch the clip below on the “anchor baby” phenomenon between U.S. Representative Virgil Goode (R-VA) and his challenger:
Clouds, Clocks, and Sitting at Tables 