7. The Right to Citizenship

Based on basic principles of transnational citizenship law, such as the principle of protection of legitimate expectations, the principle of proportionality, ius domicilii, and adverse possessions, as well as the democratic principle and also based on the naturalization pattern around the world, it should be possible to determine that no citizen in waiting should be permanently excluded from citizenship. Although this proposition might sound quite consensual—especially within Western countries with standard naturalization policies—the basic essence of what has been said is very controversial. It not only imposes a positive duty overriding an important dimension of sovereignty—the symbolic definition of the people—but also gives rise to a discussion about undocumented migration. The access of these migrants to citizenship is an active question in the USA and is becoming one in Europe as well. There is no legal answer whatsoever, even though it is widely recognized that undocumented migrants have, as would seem obvious, human rights. The right to citizenship, being a human right, should also be included in this set of rights.