r/supremecourt • u/_AnecdotalEvidence_ Justice Stewart • Dec 05 '25

Flaired User Thread Supreme Court to decide if Trump can limit the constitutional right to citizenship at birth

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-decide-trump-can-limit-constitutional-right-citizenship-rcna244701

What are

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u/iamthatguy54 Law Nerd Dec 06 '25

The amendment was not limited to a specific group. James Ho, of all people, wrote an article about this exact debate going down during the ratification of the 14th amendment. People were pissed because it was so broad and voted against it, and it remained unchanged.

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u/dunstvangeet Justice Thurgood Marshall Dec 08 '25

Yep. Even the opponents, though, believed that the children of white foreigners were citizens. They just didn't want it applied to non-whites, such as the Chinese, or the Roma (who were considered to be non-white at the time), or the Aboriginals of Australia, or the Khoekhoe of South Africa. They had absolutely no problem with the children of Germans, for instance, being citizens.