This SCOTUS precedent could derail Trump’s dream of ending birthright citizenship: legal scholars

25 November 2024

One of President-elect Donald Trump's many controversial proposals is ending birthright citizenship, which is promised in the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment.

Journalist Maryam Khanum, in an article published by International Business Times on November 25, explains why Trump's proposal may run into major legal hurdles.

"President-elect Donald Trump's promise to end the practice of birthright citizenship in the U.S. with his return to office will likely be thwarted by a Supreme Court precedent that is over a century old, according to experts," Khanum explains. "Trump has long promised to end birthright citizenship. In fact, he first discussed this goal when campaigning for his first presidential term in 2016."

But Khanum notes that according to legal scholars, the 1898 Supreme Court case United States v. Wong Kim Ark could prove to be obstacle for Trump and his allies.

In that case, according to Khanum, the High Court "ruled that any child born on American soil is a U.S. citizen even if their parents are not U.S. citizens."

According to Khanum, "The ruling followed the birth of Horace Wong, who was 21 years old at the time of the case. Wong had been born to 'subjects of the Emperor of China" in San Francisco and was determined to be a U.S. citizen."

Leti Volpp, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, recently told Bay Area station KQED, "We have a legal system which is based on precedent. In the case of Wong Kim Ark ... there has been no chipping away at precedent through other decisions," Volpp continued.

Read the full International Business Times article at this link.

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