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United States v. Wong Kim Ark – 1898



The rule of citizenship by birth has a long history of support in the common law traditions of England and the United States, and is a constitutionally protected right. The Court rejects the government's argument that Roman law, in which the citizenship of the child followed that of the parent, has superseded common law and should govern international law. The inclusion of the phrase "natural-born citizen" in the Constitution implies that U.S. citizenship can be acquired through birth.

This case represented a landmark victory for Chinese Americans, especially given the animosity toward that group during this time in U.S. history (the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant law restricting immigration into the United States). In this case, the Supreme Court resisted the racially based arguments provided by the counsel for the government ruled based on the textual support of the Constitution.

For a full summary of this case, go to:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court= US&vol=169&invol=649


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