How did birthright citizenship start in the US?published at 14:48 BST
Image source, National ArchivesImage caption,
A photo of Wong Kim Ark, which is housed in the National Archives from a federal immigration investigation case conducted under the Chinese Exclusion Acts
The concept of birthright citizenship, also known by the legal term “jus soli”, is based in English common law and was generally accepted to apply to white men throughout early American history.
However, it did not become part of the Constitution until 1868, when the 14th Amendment was passed in the wake of the US Civil War in order to settle the question of the citizenship of freed, American-born former slaves.
Previous Supreme Court cases, like Dred Scott v Sandford in 1857, had determined that African Americans could never be US citizens. The 14th Amendment overrode that.
In 1898, the US Supreme Court ruled that birthright citizenship applies to the children of immigrants in the case of US v Wong Kim Ark.
Wong was a 24-year-old child of legal Chinese immigrants who was born in the US, but denied re-entry when he returned from a visit to China.
Wong successfully argued that because he was born in the US, his parents’ immigration status did not affect the application of the 14th Amendment.
The court ruled in Wong’s favour and outlined a few limited exceptions to birthright citizenship, such as for children of diplomats.
