France has recently changed some of their political views regarding immigration, and citizenship. France has owned a piece of land called Mayotte for almost two centuries now and in that time, many immigrants from other nations have come to the island seeking French citizenship. In France, citizenship is very similar to how it works here, in that people born in the country can apply for citizenship and be approved for citizenship. This applies to anywhere in France, even some of their smaller territories like Mayotte. The French government has been fine with this form of citizenship, until about a week ago when a member of the government arrived at the island declaring that being born on the island would no longer give citizenship. This was a very controversial move with both political parties in France debating it. The left-wing thinks that birthright citizenship is a key factor in making France a more humanitarian country, and removing the right could hurt the country. On the other hand, the right has been supportive of the move and says that they want the removal to be more widespread throughout the country. The government as a whole seems to be more on the side of the right-wing because they have been cracking down on immigrants even more recently. The people of Mayotte are not happy about the decision with most of them being immigrants, they are not happy about the decision that will make it even harder for them to get citizenship in a safe country like France. With all the wars and refugee crises going on right now, especially in Africa, countries that have been known to hold many refugees such as France have been more restrictive in their policies of allowing immigrants and refugees. While it may be a change in a tiny part of the country, the policy change could be followed by massive changes to the country’s policies on immigrants.
