Trump v. Barbara · ¶248

This Court long agreed that the Citizenship Clause did not apply to persons born here to children of temporary visitors. Just five years after the Citizenship Clause was ratified, this Court explained that the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction” excluded persons not domiciled here: “The phrase ‘subject to its jurisdiction,’” the Court explained, “was intended to exclude from its operation children of ministers, consuls, and citizens or subjects of foreign states born within the United States.” Slaughter-House Cases, 16 Wall., at 73. Then, in Elk, the Court again interpreted the Clause to require complete jurisdiction, not just bare territorial authority. The Court held that to satisfy the Citizenship Clause, a person must not only be “born within the territorial limits of the United States,” but must be “completely subject” to the United States’ “political jurisdiction” at birth. 112…

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
Source edition
Passage preview. Read in context for the complete text, notes and references.