Trump v. Barbara · ¶37

The Fourteenth Amendment achieved its aim. The Citizenship Clause mirrored the common law’s criteria for citizenship. The Clause starts, like the common law, with territory—a child must be “born . . . in the United States,” not elsewhere (even to American parents). And the Clause ends, again like the common law, with sovereign power—a child must be “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States, unlike (say) the families of foreign ministers. A child born on American soil and subject to American law was made an American citizen. Even the language of the Clause is that of the common law. Lynch held that American citizenship extended to “all persons born within the jurisdiction of the United States.” 1 Sand. Ch., at 668. So did Chancellor Kent. See Kent 38, and n. a (“all persons born within the jurisdiction and allegiance of the United states” are citizens). So did the first legal…

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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