Trump v. Barbara · ¶57

All others were citizens at birth, whether born to permanent residents or temporary visitors. See id., at 676, 687– 688. Indeed, Justice Gray noted, no one had even “contested” this conclusion for “more than fifty years after the adoption of the Constitution”—until the matter was “elaborately argued” before the New York Court of Chancery in Lynch v. Clarke. 169 U. S., at 664. And there the question was “decided upon full consideration by Vice Chancellor Sandford in favor of their citizenship.” Ibid. “The same doctrine was repeatedly affirmed in the executive departments,” Justice Gray wrote, not to mention by Kent and Binney—each of whom affirmed that “[t]he child of an alien, if born in the country, is as much a citizen as the natural-born child of a citizen.” Id., at 664–665. In adopting the common law, Justice Gray explained, the Citizenship Clause adopted this same rule. See id., at…

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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