Trump v. Barbara · ¶342

Congress left the language excluding persons “subject to any foreign power” in place until 1940. See, e.g., Rev. Statutes §1992 (1875) (“All persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are declared to be citizens of the United States”); 8 U. S. C. §1 (1934 ed.) (“All persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power are declared to be citizens of the United States”). It was the governing rule for the first 72 years after ratification. “[S]uch contemporaneous legislative exposition of the Constitution . . . , acquiesced in for a long term of years, fixes the construction to be given its provisions.” Printz v. United States, 521 U. S. 898, 905 (1997) (internal quotation marks omitted).

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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