Trump v. Barbara · ¶50

In 1872, for instance, Attorney General George Williams was called upon to determine the citizenship of a child born of Austrian parents only “temporarily residing” in New York City. 14 Op. Atty. Gen. 154. Citing the Citizenship Clause (and Bates’s 1862 opinion), Williams explained that “a person born in this country, though of alien parents who have never been naturalized, is, under our law, deemed a citizen of the United States by reason of the place of his birth.” Id., at 155. Thus the child “is a native of this country,” Williams concluded, “and as such was originally clothed with American nationality.” Ibid. Secretary of State Hamilton Fish agreed. See Memorandum to Baron Lederer (Dec. 24, 1872), in 2 Digest 395–396. So did federal courts. Like the Executive Branch, they saw the Clause as merely “declaratory of the rule of the common law.” McKay v. Campbell, 16 F. Cas. 161, 165…

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