Peter Spiro
@peterspiro.bsky.social
Law prof, Temple U. All things citizenship
Grift theory backed up by fact that you can apply for “citizenship” as a “business”
June 12, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Grift theory backed up by fact that you can apply for “citizenship” as a “business”
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.
June 12, 2025 at 3:48 PM
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.
Coda to the Louis Menand review of Buckley bio - lines up with the recent David Brooks column on Trump
May 31, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Coda to the Louis Menand review of Buckley bio - lines up with the recent David Brooks column on Trump
Deeply saddened by the death of David Souter, for whom I clerked during his first term on the Supreme Court, 1990-91. He was a good and decent person, an old-school judge in the best possible sense. To an extraordinary extent, for DC at least, he never let his ego get in the way. Of another era alas
May 9, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Deeply saddened by the death of David Souter, for whom I clerked during his first term on the Supreme Court, 1990-91. He was a good and decent person, an old-school judge in the best possible sense. To an extraordinary extent, for DC at least, he never let his ego get in the way. Of another era alas
Non-zero chance that Trump tries to muscle him out of his US citizenship, Vance v. Terrazas notwithstanding. State Department guidance here:
May 8, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Non-zero chance that Trump tries to muscle him out of his US citizenship, Vance v. Terrazas notwithstanding. State Department guidance here:
State Department guidance on US citizens serving as foreign heads of state:
travel.state.gov/content/trav...
travel.state.gov/content/trav...
May 8, 2025 at 7:42 PM
State Department guidance on US citizens serving as foreign heads of state:
travel.state.gov/content/trav...
travel.state.gov/content/trav...
Interesting element of ECJ decision finding Malta investor citizenship inconsistent with EU law: Highlights that Malta was selling this as right to live/work anywhere in the EU. Ruling seems narrow enough to insulate other golden visa schemes.
April 29, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Interesting element of ECJ decision finding Malta investor citizenship inconsistent with EU law: Highlights that Malta was selling this as right to live/work anywhere in the EU. Ruling seems narrow enough to insulate other golden visa schemes.
Very weird response
February 25, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Very weird response
Brief weirdly argues standard reading of Citizenship Clause will constrain govt's capacity to address "problems attendant on dual nationality." No way that cat's getting put back in the bag. Millions of Americans have additional citizenships (Melania and Baron included)
February 4, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Brief weirdly argues standard reading of Citizenship Clause will constrain govt's capacity to address "problems attendant on dual nationality." No way that cat's getting put back in the bag. Millions of Americans have additional citizenships (Melania and Baron included)
DOJ brief cites almost no modern supporting authority for the "domicile" argument. Two student-written comments. Both contradict the brief! Both make strong case that children of undocumented can qualify as "domiciled".
February 4, 2025 at 6:21 PM
DOJ brief cites almost no modern supporting authority for the "domicile" argument. Two student-written comments. Both contradict the brief! Both make strong case that children of undocumented can qualify as "domiciled".
Revisiting Wong Kim Ark. Language is categorical and emphatic
January 24, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Revisiting Wong Kim Ark. Language is categorical and emphatic
Nice flight of paragraphs in states' brief challenging Trump birth citizenship EO. Complaint strongly argued - obviously ready to go before Jan 20
oag.ca.gov/system/files...
oag.ca.gov/system/files...
January 23, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Nice flight of paragraphs in states' brief challenging Trump birth citizenship EO. Complaint strongly argued - obviously ready to go before Jan 20
oag.ca.gov/system/files...
oag.ca.gov/system/files...
Executive order can’t repeal statute. Trump’s birth citizenship EO purports to interpret “subject to the jurisdiction” of the US. But statute extending citizenship to those born in Alaska (INA 304) contains no such condition. So courts are going to scale back birth citizenship everywhere but there?
January 21, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Executive order can’t repeal statute. Trump’s birth citizenship EO purports to interpret “subject to the jurisdiction” of the US. But statute extending citizenship to those born in Alaska (INA 304) contains no such condition. So courts are going to scale back birth citizenship everywhere but there?
And: Court found that Chinese parents ineligibility to naturalize couldn’t affect WKA’s citizenship claim - if it did, Congress could limit scope of the Citizenship Clause through its power over naturalization
January 21, 2025 at 8:38 PM
And: Court found that Chinese parents ineligibility to naturalize couldn’t affect WKA’s citizenship claim - if it did, Congress could limit scope of the Citizenship Clause through its power over naturalization
Christmas present from college freshman daughter: gag gift or laying down the gauntlet?
January 1, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Christmas present from college freshman daughter: gag gift or laying down the gauntlet?
Strong argument nicely made here against breaking the glass on birthright citizenship
December 17, 2024 at 5:04 PM
Strong argument nicely made here against breaking the glass on birthright citizenship
Center for Immigration Studies is going to get greedy
December 15, 2024 at 7:35 PM
Center for Immigration Studies is going to get greedy
Critics not in Argentina but Italy
December 15, 2024 at 7:31 PM
Critics not in Argentina but Italy
From John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany, published 1989 but seems relevant. Not a fun read, characters too cold, but well constructed. Afraid my kids would call it “mid.” (Several digressions on the Iran Contra affair seem quaint against today’s firehose of misdeeds.)
December 12, 2024 at 9:14 PM
From John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany, published 1989 but seems relevant. Not a fun read, characters too cold, but well constructed. Afraid my kids would call it “mid.” (Several digressions on the Iran Contra affair seem quaint against today’s firehose of misdeeds.)
Consistent with this
November 27, 2024 at 8:36 PM
Consistent with this