Historical Research on Birthright Citizenship and the 14th Amendment

A student comment in the Yale Law Journal (119 Yale L.J. 1351 (2010)). sheds light on the interpretation of the citizenship provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  

As interpreted consistently for more than a century, the Fourteenth Amendment has guaranteed birthright citizenship to all people born within the United States, subject only to minor exceptions such as for births to foreign diplomats. Some have recently argued, however, that federal law should be changed to deny birthright citizenship from the children of undocumented immigrants born in the United States.  Among other things, they have relied upon the alleged views of Senator Lyman Trumbull regarding the meaning of language in the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which he sponsored, which led to the current language about citizenship in the 14th Amendment.  The Comment looks at the historical evidence about Trumbull’s views to show that he would not support a narrow interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment.

KJ