United States Supreme Court. After arriving back from a temporary visit to China in 1895, Wong Kim Ark was detained at the port of San Francisco and refused permission to land. 890; 1898… ... United States v. Wong Kim Ark. A Supreme Court ruling awarding citizenship to children of Chinese immigrants born on … Wong Kim Ark was born in San Francisco to parents who were both Chinese citizens who resided in the United States at the time. His parents were both Chinese immigrants and remained subjects of the Chinese emperor while they lived in the United States. When he returned to the United States, Wong was denied entry on the ground that he was not a citizen.Is a child who was born in the United States to Chinese-citizen parents who are lawful permanent residents of the United States a U.S. citizen under the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?Because Wong was born in the United States and his parents were not “employed in any diplomatic or official capacity under the Emperor of China,” the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment automatically makes him a U.S. citizen.
It pointed to the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which was passed by the same Congress that adopted the Fourteenth Amendment, stipulating citizenship for “all persons born in the United States, and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed.” From this the Court reasoned that “the opening sentence of the Fourteenth Amendment is throughout affirmative and declaratory, intended to allay doubts and to settle controversies which had arisen, and not to impose any new restrictions upon citizenship.” Further, the Court noted the general principle that “[t]he jurisdiction of the nation within its own territory is necessarily exclusive and absolute.
At age 21, he returned to China to visit his parents who had previously resided in the United States for 20 years. Start studying APUSH | Chapter 17 Freedom's Boundaries, at Home and Abroad, 1890-1900. 169 U.S. 649 (1898) The Supreme Court held that citizenship as prescribed in the Fourteenth Amendment extends to U.S.-born children of foreign subjects or citizens who, at the time of the child’s birth, are permanent residents and are carrying on business in the United States. United States v. Wong Kim Ark. Moreover, by treaty no Chinese subject in the United States could become a naturalized citizen. Ever since he was born, Wong Kim Ark lived in California. The Chinese Exclusion Act | Digital Short An Extraordinary Law. The Chinese Exclusion Acts denied citizenship to Chinese immigrants. The court based its decision on the Fourteenth Amendment and its inherent legal principle of “jus soli”—citizenship based on place of birth. Combined with the principle of citizenship being conferred through territoriality, which was well-established before the Fourteenth Amendment, the Court decided Wong Kim Ark must have been a citizen from birth.A dissenting opinion by Chief Justice Fuller, which Justice Harlan joined, disagreed with the majority’s view that the Fourteenth Amendment was intended as a continuation of the English common law rule stemming from. It is susceptible of no limitation not imposed by itself.” The Court therefore interpreted that “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” qualification of the Fourteenth Amendment applies to children of foreign citizens in the United States, except in recognized exceptions of occupied territory and foreign diplomats having immunity from jurisdiction. Wong Kim Ark appealed his denial of entry to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which ruled on January 3, 1896, that by virtue of having been born in the United States, he was legally a U.S. citizen. U.S. v. WONG KIM ARK(1898) No. SCOTUSCase Litigants=United States v. Wong Kim Ark ArgueDate=March 5, 8 ArgueYear=1897 DecideDate=March 28 DecideYear=1898 FullName=United States v. Wong Kim Ark SCOTUS=1898 1902 USVol=169 USPage=649 Citation=18 S. Ct. 456; 42 L. Ed. The main principle that the Court chose to draw was from.The Court was also interested in the circumstances surrounding the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment. At age 21, he returned to China to visit his parents who had previously resided in the United States for 20 years.