Trump v. Barbara · ¶309

The Citizenship Clause was enacted for people who were born in this country and called it home. It was enacted for freed slaves such as Dred Scott, who had “a domicil” here and therefore were entitled to sue as citizens. Brief for Dred Scott 6. It was enacted for men such as Frederick Douglass, who demanded citizenship “not as aliens nor as exiles,” but as “Americans.” 2 Douglass 255. Its authors and supporters promised, over and over again, that it would exclude the children of “persons temporarily resident” here, whom “we would have no right to make citizens.” Cong. Globe, 39th Cong., 1st Sess., at 572 (statement of Sen. Trumbull). In Senator Trumbull’s words: “What do we mean by ‘subject to the jurisdiction of the United States?’ Not owing allegiance to anybody else. That is what it means.” Id., at 2893. And, for decades after ratification, it was interpreted by all three branches of…

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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