As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to rule on former President Donald Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship, Mexico continues to extend automatic citizenship to children born within its borders—a policy that has provided stability and opportunity to immigrant families like Vivianne Petit Frere's, whose granddaughter became a Mexican citizen at birth two years ago in Tijuana.
Petit Frere, who fled Haiti in 2019 and operates a thriving Haitian restaurant called Lakou Lakay—meaning "home" in Haitian creole—represents thousands of immigrant families who have found refuge in Mexico's birthright citizenship policy. Her granddaughter, Alexca, a bubbly toddler, was born with full citizenship rights despite her family's immigrant status, illustrating a stark contrast to Trump's efforts to deny such protections in the United States.
Dozens of Nations Guarantee Birthright Citizenship
Contrary to Trump's April claim on Truth Social that "We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow 'Birthright' Citizenship," approximately three dozen countries guarantee automatic citizenship to children born on their territory, mostly in the Americas. These include Canada, Honduras, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Mexico. Trump signed his birthright citizenship order on Jan. 20, 2025, the first day of his second term, targeting children whose parents are living in the country illegally or have temporary legal status.
In the United States, birthright citizenship was enshrined after the Civil War through the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, in part to ensure former slaves would be citizens. The right was expanded to immigrants' children in the late 1800s when the Supreme Court ruled nearly anyone born in the U.S., no matter their parents' legal status, has citizenship. According to César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, a law professor at Ohio State University, the practice dates to the 1600s and 1700s, when European rulers encouraged migration to the expanding American colonies. "You're a citizen as long as you're born within the domain of the king, of the monarch," García Hernández said, adding, "But the legal tie between the home country in Europe and the settlers remained strong through the promise of birthright citizenship."
Human Cost of Denying Citizenship
The consequences of eliminating birthright citizenship are evident in the Dominican Republic, where in 2007 the Electoral Council officially ordered the denial of citizenship to all children born to parents without legal status. Six years later, a Dominican court applied it retroactively to 1929. Over a decade later, as many as 130,000 people remained stateless despite passage of a law in 2014 to correct the court decision after it drew strong international condemnation, according to the Center for Migration Studies of New York. The law now impacts the next generation, which remains vulnerable to deportation.
A Path to Stability and Opportunity
Petit Frere's story illustrates how birthright citizenship creates pathways to stability for immigrant families. She has lived in Tijuana for just over five years, during which she has established a thriving business, become fluent in Spanish and is getting a degree in social work. Her granddaughter's Mexican citizenship will provide opportunities unavailable with a Haitian passport, which offers limited visa-free travel. "As a Mexican citizen, she will have more opportunities," Petit Frere said.
Mexico allows the parents of children with birthright citizenship to become permanent residents, creating a pathway to legal status for families. "There are a lot of children in Tijuana who are 6, 7, 8 years old now who are Mexican and their parents who are Haitian did not have legal status but now have become permanent residents because their children were born here," Petit Frere said. She and her daughter had permanent residency in Mexico before her granddaughter was born.
Tens of thousands of Haitians are living in Mexico. In 2021, when Mexico saw a significant increase in Haitian migration, at least 10 percent of arriving Haitian women were pregnant, according to the United Nations' International Organization for Migration. There are no figures on how many children born to noncitizens have received Mexican birthright citizenship.
Petit Frere, who is also a community organizer with the Haitian Bridge Alliance advocating for the Haitian migrant community, said she hopes to pursue another degree in international migration, possibly through a U.S. university. She has started the paperwork to become a Mexican citizen, which would make it easier to expand her business. "The children of immigrants are proving to be the most outstanding in the world," she said. Trump's efforts to limit birthright citizenship, she said, "could just be out of jealousy."
Petit Frere was born in French Saint Martin, a Caribbean island that does not offer automatic birthright citizenship. She and her mother, who is Haitian, were deported to Haiti when she was 6. She left Haiti seeking a better life and was dismayed to discover that when her teenage daughter left Haiti to be reunited with her in Tijuana three years later, she was nearly five months pregnant. Petit Frere said she had been a teen mother herself and had hoped for a different path for her daughter. She said her granddaughter, Alexca, has conquered her heart, and that she is grateful her granddaughter was born in Mexico rather than Haiti, where surging gang violence has left more than 1 in 10 homeless.
Why This Matters:
The debate over birthright citizenship has profound implications for immigrant families and their children's futures. Mexico's continued commitment to this policy demonstrates how birthright citizenship provides a pathway to stability, legal status, and economic opportunity for vulnerable populations. The Dominican Republic's experience shows the devastating human cost of denying citizenship—leaving as many as 130,000 people stateless and vulnerable to deportation across generations. As the U.S. Supreme Court weighs the constitutionality of Trump's order, the experiences of families like Petit Frere's illustrate how birthright citizenship serves as a fundamental protection for children who would otherwise face statelessness and limited opportunities. The policy also creates pathways for parents to obtain legal residency, strengthening community ties and economic contributions. For immigrant families fleeing violence and instability, birthright citizenship represents not just legal status but access to education, travel, and the chance to build stable lives in their adopted countries.