Abstract Since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and Donald Trump’s return to the White House in 2025, the world has experienced a harsh fragmentation, the collapse of multilateralism, and a challenge to the fragile equilibrium born from global economic interdependence. New realities have emerged - across immigration, politics, society, armament, borders, diplomacy, and digital technologies - where previous filters and norms have largely disappeared. The Trump administration has intensified controls over immigration and naturalization by broadening the definition of “good moral character” and scrutinizing opinions deemed anti-American, including those expressed on social media. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), responsible for granting residency and citizenship, declared that “the benefits offered by the United States should not be granted to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies.” Thus, the right to reside and work in the country is framed as a privilege rather than a guaranteed right. In his first address to the United Nations General Assembly since 2020, Donald Trump warned Europe that immigration is “destroying your heritage” and undermining its nations. He described immigration and climate change policies as a “two-headed monster” devastating the European continent, condemning what he termed “the uncontrolled disaster of immigration.” Trump urged an end to the “failed experiment of open borders,” asserting, “You must end it now. I can tell you, I’m really good at this kind of thing. Your countries are going straight to hell.” In response, European countries have tightened their borders and restricted asylum access for third-country nationals. The European Union is also implementing a common pact on migration and asylum, which will enforce stricter rules within the Schengen Area. Globally, immigration, human mobility, and citizenship dominate political debates. Over the past thirty years, the world has entered an era of increased mobility, driven by the fall of the Iron Curtain in former communist regimes, including China, and passport access in many southern countries. This phenomenon has legitimized emigration, as a universal right, while borders have simultaneously closed to immigration, excluding many from citizenship due to their mobility. Globalization has become the main driver of diverse forms of mobility, impacting the concept of citizenship, which was traditionally governed primarily by nation-states. However, this emerging disparity between the universal right to emigrate and the discretionary right to immigrate has introduced new complexities governed by new actors. Paradoxically, while mobility is widely regarded as a factor of human development and modernity, inequalities related to the right to move across borders have resulted in multiple, often negotiated, forms of citizenship managed by a variety of agencies.
Azzouzi et al. (Thu,) studied this question.