Julie Novkov

Given the attention that this case drew in the local press, it seems that everyone understood that this was going to be the big challenge.

It was going to have a broader impact than whatever was going on in San Francisco.

So although there had been previous cases, rulings that had touched on this issue, this one did immediately garner quite a lot of attention, even before the ruling came down.

The Fuller Court is known among constitutional scholars as one of the most racist iterations of the Supreme Court that has existed across the span of American history. They're responsible for Plessy versus Ferguson. responsible for building the infrastructure that supports the development of Jim Crow in the South in the 20th century.

And they actively, in some cases, support white supremacy and white supremacists. And the court is also not always all that wonderful to the Chinese specifically.

Well, in very simple terms, Wonkham Arc's lawyers have two main claims. One is that this principle of birthright citizenship is a longstanding principle in common law, not just American common law, but English common law.

And therefore, if you look at the history of this principle,

If you look at how it has played out over time, if you look at what the 14th Amendment was attempting to do and how discussions around it unfolded, and then you look at subsequent developments in lower federal court cases and a couple Supreme Court cases, there's plenty of grounding there to support the idea that the descendants of Chinese born in the United States are entitled to birthright citizenship.

That principle is universal. And if you undercut it for the descendants of Chinese, you're basically undercutting the foundations of quite a few American citizens.

If you had been looking at this case not necessarily knowing what was going to happen, only knowing what you know about the fuller court going into it, I think you could be forgiven for being a little bit uncertain about which way this one was going to go.

And he finds that Wong Kim Ark and all others similarly situated are indeed entitled to birthright citizenship.

When this steamship bearing Wong Kim Ark arrives, the general manager is forbidden to allow him to leave the steamship.

The Fuller Court is known among constitutional scholars as one of the most racist iterations of the Supreme Court that has existed across the span of American history. They're responsible for Plessy versus Ferguson.

Well, in very simple terms, Wonkham Arc's lawyers have two main claims. One is that this principle of birthright citizenship is a longstanding principle in common law, not just American common law, but English common law.

And therefore, if you look at the history of this principle,

If you look at how it has played out over time, if you look at what the 14th Amendment was attempting to do and how discussions around it unfolded, and then you look at subsequent developments in lower federal court cases and a couple Supreme Court cases, there's plenty of grounding there to support the idea that the descendants of Chinese born in the United States are entitled to birthright citizenship.

That principle is universal. And if you undercut it for the descendants of Chinese, you're basically undercutting the foundations of quite a few American citizens.

If you had been looking at this case not necessarily knowing what was going to happen, only knowing what you know about the Fuller Court going into it, I think you could be forgiven for being a little bit uncertain about which way this one was going to go.

And he finds that Wong Kim Ark and all others similarly situated are indeed entitled to birthright citizenship.

Given the attention that this case drew in the local press, it seems that everyone understood that this was going to be the big challenge.

Julie Novkov is the Dean of Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany SUNY and co-author of American by Birth, Wong Kim Ark and the Battle for Citizenship.

It was going to have a broader impact than whatever was going on in San Francisco.

So although there had been previously rulings that had touched on this issue, this one did immediately garner quite a lot of attention, even before the ruling came down.