Trump v. Barbara · ¶464

The other exception—for the children of diplomats—was one that had been recognized under the British rule and was endorsed by leading authorities on the law of nations. E. de Vattel, The Law of Nations §217, p. 103 (1797). This was a minuscule category at best, and Congress could have preserved the exception with narrow language applicable only to the members of that group. For example, it could have said something like this: “[A]ll persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed and the children of foreign diplomats, are hereby declared to be citizens of the United States.” Congress did not take that approach. It chose instead to identify what it understood to be the characteristic that called for the exception and to deny birthright citizenship to anyone who shares that characteristic. That characteristic, as Congress saw it, was…

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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