Sign in

Peter Spiro

@peterspiro.bsky.social
922 followers 832 following 193 posts

Law prof, Temple U. All things citizenship

PostsRepliesMedia
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Since everybody’s doing it can’t resist posting this letter “in sisterhood” from Gloria Steinem to my mother circa 1978. Makes one nostalgic for the pre-Selectric era among other things
040
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Most shocking thing about today’s birthright citizenship opinion: nobody, not even the libs, does anything with a century of practice consistent with the broad interpretation of the 14A. Total methodological surrender. We’re all originalists now, very much for the worse.
082
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Almost certainly unconstitutional, at least under existing precedent (SCOTUS decisions in Afroyim and Terrazas). But it’s never going to get that far - too many on both sides of the aisle (start with Melania and Baron, and all those Italian and Irish dual citizens) who would fight to keep it.
052
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Maarten Vink @maartenpvink.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
This is nuts. Think that is the appropriate legal term for this 'Exclusive Citizenship Act' bill. Includes a generic clause that 'An individual may not be a citizen or national of the United States while simultaneously possessing any foreign citizenship.' (Sec 4(b)) What does that even mean?
1910
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
This will go nowhere but still…
2111
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Maarten Vink @maartenpvink.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
“Totally absurd but probably will stick” is the motto of the T admin. It’s just one more grift scheme.
031
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Category capped at 40k visas a year. This will probably create backlogs and processing delays for aliens who actually have extraordinary ability
272
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Back to this from a couple of weeks ago. Glad to know that Kimmel has a Plan B if he needs it.
020
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
So they found a legal workaround for the “Gold Card” - anyone who donates a million bucks automatically qualifies as an “alien of extraordinary ability”. Totally absurd but probably will stick. No one will have standing to challenge.
whitehouse.gov
The Gold Card
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.  Purpose.
182
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
"I love Italy. I like the idea of being a citizen there. And mostly what I like to do is bring my passport to parties and show it to people and make them jealous."
thedailybeast.com
Jimmy Kimmel Addresses Rumors He’s Fleeing Trump’s America
MAGA world melted down after Kimmel told Sarah Silverman he had obtained Italian citizenship.
030
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Anyone know if Naomi Osaka actually relinquished her US citizenship? Her name never showed up on the renunciation list and Japan now quietly tolerant of birth dual citizens maintaining the status into adulthood.
sports.yahoo.com
Why does Naomi Osaka play for Japan? Explaining tennis star's relinquished USA dual citizenship
The tennis star represents Japan on the national stage.
120
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Crazy story at the intersection of 14th amendment and citizenship qualifications for the franchise.
yahoo.com
10 Alaskans born in American Samoa plead not guilty in voting case highlighting citizenship issues
Ten Alaska residents pleaded not guilty Thursday to voter misconduct or other charges in cases that have renewed attention on the complex citizenship status of people born in the U.S. territory of Ame...
130
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Maarten Vink @maartenpvink.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
Well said, @peterspiro.bsky.social in @nytimes.com on Marco Rubio’s 2016 defense of birthright citizenship. “There’s no reason why the argument he put to work in 2016 couldn’t be put to work today against the Trump executive order,” Professor Spiro wrote. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/u...
nytimes.com
Marco Rubio Once Filed a Brief Embracing Birthright Citizenship
0157
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Maarten Vink @maartenpvink.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
Can Trump revoke citizenship, and how often does it happen worldwide? > No, and too often. Informative @washingtonpost.com piece drawing on @globalcit.bsky.social data on the regulation of citizenship revokation around the world. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
washingtonpost.com
Can Trump revoke citizenship, and how often does it happen worldwide?
Trump has threatened to strip some Americans’ citizenship, which many countries allow in the name of security but critics say can lead to weaponization.
1103
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Dimitry Kochenov Yaroslavsky @profkochenov.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
🎯spoke to @aljazeera.com on global citizenship apartheid: m.youtube.com/watch?v=HdHS... Delight to showcase my @mitpress.bsky.social book❗️Brief summary at @icon-s.bsky.social: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... @globalcit.bsky.social @profjacob.bsky.social @weareceu.bsky.social @peterspiro.bsky.social
095
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Maarten Vink @maartenpvink.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
The i UK newspaper asked me what's going on with citizenship policies across European countries. Here's why I think we are at a turning point in Europe when it comes to citizenship through naturalisation. And why that is worrying. inews.co.uk/news/world/w...
inews.co.uk
Why it's getting even harder for Brits to become EU citizens
Several countries are looking at increasing residency requirements for citizenship
1126
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Maarten Vink @maartenpvink.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Hanging out in Budapest with a great citizenship crowd ❤️ @jdzankic.bsky.social @bronwenmanby.bsky.social @peterspiro.bsky.social
Pictured in Budapest from left to right: Maarten Vink, Patricia Jeronimo, Rainer Baubock, Bronwen Manby, Jelena Dzankic, Peter Spiro
1133
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Why policing dual nationality makes no sense
nytimes.com
Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist Is Stripped of Dutch Citizenship
020
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Delighted to join!
020
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @aoc.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE. This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined. It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
43729652437493
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
I still believe that denaturalization cases will be relatively rare and that the average immigrant does not need to worry about this. But we can definitely expect to see an increase in cases from around 100-150 a year to maybe double that?
4631295
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
“Fraud” can be broadly defined so definitely cause for concern. SCOTUS 2017 decision below unanimously held that misrep must have been “material”. Courts exercise closer scrutiny here than with respect to immigration policies, but there are probably lots of cases in which govt still prevails.
supremecourt.gov
131
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
This is an excellent story, which quotes my @templelaw.bsky.social colleague Laura Bingham. It also provides useful context, showing how the rise of anti-immigrant, technologically powered national security state finds precedents in Obama-era policy. www.npr.org/2025/06/30/n...
npr.org
DOJ announces plans to prioritize cases to revoke citizenship
Denaturalization is a tactic heavily used during the McCarthy era and one that was expanded during the Obama administration and grew further during President Trump's first term. It's a tool usually us...
23418
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 28/06/2025
Legit terrifying
020
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 28/06/2025
blog.dividedargument.com/p/initial-th... from Samuel Bray, an expert on and critic of nationwide injunctions frequently cited in Barrett's opinion: "I do not expect the President’s executive order on birthright citizenship will ever go into effect."
Second, there will likely be a surge of new class actions against the enforcement of the executive order. Because the Supreme Court expressly said the Executive Order would not take effect for 30 days, that allows class actions to be filed and class-protective preliminary injunctions to be granted throughout the country. Given that the birthright-citizenship executive order is unconstitutional, I expect courts will grant those preliminary injunctions, and they will be affirmed on appeal. I do not expect the President’s executive order on birthright citizenship will ever go into effect.
4030690
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
I'm still reasonably confident that it won't end this way, and that birthright citizenship is validated against the Trump EO. But if it does end this way (and who knows these days), it will a devastating blow to the Constitution as we have known it.
031
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
It's bad, but thankfully not THAT bad. Class actions remain available (although have their own problems/limitations), and the Court defers on whether an injunction with a nationwide scope may be appropriate to grant to a state in some circumstances, like with the birthright citizenship order here.
31418116
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
This sounds right to me. Birthright citizenship a case to advance unrelated agenda. Will be a lot of confusion but in the end fairly confident one way or another that birthright citizenship will stick - nationwide.
000
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Bronwen Manby @bronwenmanby.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Statement from Crimean human rights groups on Ukraine’s proposed amendments to citizenship law regulating dual citizenship - and threatening loss of Ukrainian citizenship for those who have had Russian citizenship imposed upon them crimeahrg.org/en/statement...
crimeahrg.org
STATEMENT on the risks of the draft law on multiple citizenship – The Crimean Human Rights Group
122
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Maarten Vink @maartenpvink.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Oh no! Portuguese gov wants to increase waiting time for citizenship from 5 to 10 yrs, and deprive citizens of their citizenship after conviction for 'serious crimes'. This would set 🇵🇹 back miles in its approach to the legal and political inclusion of migrants. www.publico.pt/2025/06/18/p...
publico.pt
Lei da Nacionalidade. O que vai mudar? Quais as regras que existem hoje? Quem pode pedir?
Portugal vai juntar-se aos países que apertaram critérios para conceder a nacionalidade. Saiba o que está em causa.
12211
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
"The White House still needs to determine crucial details about the scheme, although three months ago Lutnick claimed on the All-In Podcast that it would launch in about a fortnight."
ft.com
Lutnick hails Trump’s $5mn investor visa as almost 70,000 apply
Programme to grant foreigners legal residency in US in exchange registers 68,703 people on waiting list
020
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Bronwen Manby @bronwenmanby.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
Reflections from OHCHR on grant of citizenship by Benin and others in the context of the International Decade for People of African Descent #citizenshipinafrica www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2...
ohchr.org
Returning to Africa: People of African descent seek unique status
Benin is the latest country in Africa to enable people of African descent worldwide to seek citizenship. This step aligns with an ongoing advocacy from members of the African diaspora
054
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Paul Gowder @gowder.io · 12/06/2025
The man is absolutely convinced that he's the Sovereign, entitled both to grant and to withhold citizenship at his personal will.
28218
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Not even Al Jazeera is pointing out that there’s no legal authority for this. It’s just completely made up, a dumb Trump idea that Howard Lutnick is carrying the water on. Some followers probably think it will solve the deficit.
aljazeera.com
Trump launches website for $5m ‘gold card’ granting US residency
US president unveils site for applicants to register interest for ‘Trump Card’ granting path to citizenship.
030
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
This is — and I cannot stress this enough — a real government website right now. It is hosted on the Department of Commerce website (the Department of Commerce has no immigration functions whatsoever that I am aware of).
Website screenshot: trumpcard.gov
An official website of the United States government

There are three seals displayed above the next text. In the center is the presidential seal  in stylized gold. To the left is the Department of Commerce in silver. To the right is the Department of Homeland Security in silver.

Underneath, in large text:

“The Trump Card is Coming”

Below that is: “
Enter your information below to be notified the moment access opens.”Underneath that is a terrible fake CGI gold card, a real tacky piece of crap, with his face in the middle, the Statue of Liberty in the background, a bald eagle head in the foreground at the bottom. On the card is written up top “United States of America.” In 3 corners, “5M” is written, but in the bottom right it says “5,000,000.” Above that is his signature, and above that (right middle) it says “The Trump Card,” which is surrounded by a halo of star outlines.URL trumpcard.gov. Underneath it says “My name is [Blank] from Region [dropdown menu] and I'm interested as [dropdown menu says “an Individual”] for [dropdown menu says “Myself.”] My email is
email@example.comThe Trump Card
An official website of the United States government
trumpcard@doc.gov
1472502951
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Trump Card is NOT coming unless there’s a statute to back it up. Or this is some side hustle/grift in which you get “Trump” “citizenship” and has nothing to do with the real thing.
4125
Reposted by Peter Spiro
David Owen @artsofdenial.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
globalcit.eu/citizenship-...
globalcit.eu
Citizenship as Reparations: Should the victims of historical injustice be offered membership? - Page 11 of 11 - Globalcit
Kickoff contribution by David Owen and Rainer Bauböck. Comments by Jocelyn Kane and Patti Tamara Lenard, Ashley Mantha-Hollands , Timothy Jacob-Owens , Lior Erez, Peter Spiro, Christoph Sperfeldt, Alf...
111
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Lorenzo Piccoli @lorenzopiccoli.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
On June 8-9, Italy will hold a referendum, including one question on reducing naturalisation residency from 10 to 5 years. With @maartenpvink.bsky.social & @yajnagovind.bsky.social we suggest that this would align Italy’s citizenship laws with much of Europe. firenze.repubblica.it/dossier/fire...
firenze.repubblica.it
Italy’s citizenship referendum: a chance to catch up with Europe
In this article, experts in migration and citizenship policies, applied labor, and public economics discuss the upcoming referendum in Italy, examining its pot…
0157
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
New twists on the "Gold Card." 1) Would be a donation, not an investment. 2) Holders would pay US income tax on US income only. Going to say it once more: THERE IS NO STATUTORY AUTHORITY FOR THIS. Presidents can't give out green cards (or change tax law) without congressional okay.
npr.org
Trump's $5 million Gold Card offers the rich a fast lane to residency
Foreign nationals with $5 million to spare will be able to register for a "gold card" visa that would give them the right to live and work in the U.S. But details about the program remain unclear.
150
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
axios.com
Italian Americans seek dual citizenship to flee Trump's America
"It's all this anger," one person tells Axios. "We didn't used to be so freaking angry."
020
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Colin Yeo @colinyeo.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Andrew Tate allegedly obtained Vanuatu ‘golden passport’ in month of Romania arrest www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ju...
theguardian.com
Andrew Tate allegedly obtained Vanuatu ‘golden passport’ in month of Romania arrest
Influencer accused of rape and human trafficking alleged to have secured citizenship via £96,000 investment scheme
376
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Thomas Verellen @tverellen.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
Meanwhile, the 🇧🇪 federal gov raises the cost of applying for citizenship from 150 to 1000 euros.
153
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
Coda to the Louis Menand review of Buckley bio - lines up with the recent David Brooks column on Trump
001
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Maarten Vink @maartenpvink.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
On 8–9 June, Italian citizens vote in referendum to reduce the residency requirement for non-EU nationals to apply for 🇮🇹 citizenship from 10 years to 5 With @lorenzopiccoli.bsky.social & @yajnagovind.bsky.social in @larepubblica.bsky.social on why this matters firenze.repubblica.it/dossier/fire...
firenze.repubblica.it
Italy’s citizenship referendum: a chance to catch up with Europe
In this article, experts in migration and citizenship policies, applied labor, and public economics discuss the upcoming referendum in Italy, examining its pot…
47834
Reposted by Peter Spiro
Verfassungsblog @verfassungsblog.de · 27/05/2025
France is dismantling its principle of jus soli by restricting access to French nationality in Mayotte, its 101st overseas department. MARIE-LAURE BASILIEN-GAINCHE on jus soli's constitutional status and the 'migrantisation' of a humanitarian crisis. verfassungsblog.de/dismantling-...
03015
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Spoiler: Yes.
apnews.com
Can Pope Leo remain a U.S. citizen now that he's a foreign head of state?
Pope Leo XIV’s election as the first American to lead the Catholic Church elevated him to the rare position of being a U.S. citizen who is also a foreign head of state.
010
Peter Spiro @peterspiro.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
newsweek.com
Why dual citizenship is the new American dream
A growing number of Americans are looking at dual citizenship as a "fire escape plan" amidst increasing uncertainty and deepening political division in the U.S.
011