Birthright Citizenship Cuts Youth Crime

An NBER study of a German law that granted automatic citizenship to certain immigrant children (born after Jan 1, 2000) finds those youths were far less likely to commit crimes — roughly a 70% reduction using administrative crime data from three federal states. The reform functions as a natural experiment, implying legal inclusion (citizenship at birth) causally improved measured social outcomes for immigrant youth. — If robust, this causal link reframes debates over birthright citizenship from symbolic identity questions to concrete public‑safety and fiscal consequences.