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Immigration & Citizenship
United States v. Wong Kim Ark
Decided: 1898
In brief
Held that a child born in the U.S. to non-citizen parents is a citizen by birth under the 14th Amendment.
The Court's ruling in depth
Wong Kim Ark, born in San Francisco to Chinese parents, was denied re-entry after a trip abroad. The Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause — 'All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens' — guarantees birthright citizenship irrespective of parental nationality. Wong Kim Ark is the enduring constitutional foundation of jus soli citizenship in the United States.