In early 2016, following terror attacks in
Paris, the French Justice Minister resigned. She had opposed a proposal to strip French
nationals of their citizenship if convicted of terrorism. This amendment faced criticism, suggesting
it would discriminate and not likely deter terrorists. In fact, stripping a person of citizenship
is a rare occurrence in many parts of the world. So, what does it actually take to lose your
citizenship? Well, in most of the world, you are either
granted citizenship upon birth, or you can naturalize after immigration. It is almost always easier for naturalized
citizens to lose citizenship than for those who are born into it. However, in both cases, there are very few
offenses serious enough to warrant revocation, outside of voluntarily renouncing your own
citizenship. For naturalized citizens in the US, it may
be revoked for illegally obtaining citizenship by not fulfilling the necessary requirements,
and by concealing or misrepresenting a fact that would have originally prevented citizenship. This is called “denaturalization”. You can also lose citizenship by being part
of a subversive organization, which would usually include any group advocating to overthrow
the US government, or harm US officials. You also can lose it for refusing to testify
before a Congressional committee on your supposed subversive activity. Following World War II, more than 100 former
Nazis, and others involved in war crimes who had not disclosed their status, were stripped
of their naturalized US citizenship. Later, during the Red Scare in the 1950s,
some people lost their citizenship on accusations of being communist spies. But for those who are born into citizenship,
there are specific actions which can cause one to lose citizenship. However this is only when it’s clear that
the action was done with the intention of relinquishing it. You will lose your US citizenship if you join
the military of a country which is engaged in hostilities with the US, or achieve a high
rank within another non-hostile country’s military. Additionally, acts of treason, which are defined
as partaking in conspiracy to overthrow the government, would qualify for revocation. In 2001, a man born in Louisiana was captured
in Afghanistan, allegedly fighting alongside the Taliban against the US. The question of whether to strip his citizenship
on the basis that he had joined a hostile military was an important distinction, as
he was detained for multiple years by the US government, without being charged. Eventually he was deported to Saudi Arabia
on the condition that he agree to personally renounce his American citizenship. For most European countries, in addition to
serving in another country’s military, other potential cases apply. These include the loss of citizenship by both
parents if the person in question is still a child, or if adopted by foreign citizens. In some countries, like Japan, if you are
born with dual citizenship, you must renounce the non-Japanese one by the age of 22. But overall, it is actually relatively difficult
to lose a legally acquired, or natural born citizenship. France’s potential amendment may resonate
with those hoping to stop terrorism, but in practice it seems unlikely to matter to any
potential terrorists. There are over ten million people around the
world who are not citizens of any country. To learn about what it means to be stateless,
watch our video here. Thanks for watching TestTube News, make sure
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