United States vs. Wong Kim Ark was a landmark Supreme Court case that was decided in 1898. What did it establish?
If someone in your family immigrated to the U.S., chances are the concept of birthright citizenship has affected YOUR life – even if that someone landed on American shores generations ago!
Which Constitutional amendment did this case hinge on?
The 14th is one beefy amendment (we’ve got a whole episode on it), and there’s been no shortage of arguments over what rights it guarantees. Some of its clauses are among the most litigated in the whole Constitution. Supreme Court cases from Roe v. Wade to Brown v. Board of Education have hinged on this amendment.
What does it mean to have birthright citizenship?
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States…” is how the 14th amendment begins. That teeny clause guarantees (with some small exceptions) that if your parents immigrated to the U.S. to hop in the proverbial melting pot, and you were born on U.S. soil, then YOU are one heaping serving of U.S. citizen stew.
Who was Wong Kim Ark – the man at the center of this landmark Supreme Court case?
The only one who could ever reach me was the son of a … grocery store owner? While that’s not how the famous song goes, it IS how Wong Kim Ark’s life began. In the early 1870s, Wong Kim Ark was born in San Francisco where his father, a Chinese immigrant, owned a store. He grew up to become a cook, and split his time between China and the U.S.
Wong Kim Ark’s case began when he was detained aboard a ship returning to the U.S. from China. Why was he detained?
When Wong Kim Ark sailed on the S.S. Coptic from China back to the U.S., little did he know that he was about to be the center of a massive legal battle. The U.S. government had been looking for a way to get rid of birthright citizenship – and Wong Kim Ark was the perfect solution.
Wong Kim Ark was born in the U.S., and lived in between there and China. In the 1890s, when Wong Kim Ark’s case went to court, which of the following was true about Chinese immigrants in the U.S.?
The late 1800s was a time of rising anti-immigrant sentiments, and anti-Chinese sentiments in particular. In 1882, Congress passed a bill called the Chinese Exclusion Act. In the bill, it was specifically Chinese laborers who were barred from entering the U.S. or becoming naturalized citizens.
Where did Wong Kim Ark stay while his case made its way through the court system?
Wong Kim Ark wasn’t given any star treatment. For months, while his trial made its way through the courts, he was held on board various ships docked in the San Francisco Bay harbor.
How long did it take the Supreme Court to rule on his case?
The Supreme Court took their sweet time with this one. They deliberated for a year and some weeks over the fate of Wong Kim Ark and birthright citizenship. In the end, they ruled in Wong Kim Ark’s favor – establishing that the 14th amendment right held up to scrutiny.
What happened to Wong Kim Ark after the ruling?
Wong Kim Ark lived a life worthy of its own Forrest Gump-esque movie. He got charged with being an illegal immigrant when working in El Paso, Texas – officials had to be told that he was the person at the center of the case establishing birthright citizenship. He journeyed back and forth between his family in China and the U.S. And he raised his son, Wong Yook Jim, as an American citizen. He eventually returned to China in his 60s, and remained there until his death.
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