Immigration Article of the Day: "Subject To The Jurisdiction" As Legal Text by Keith E. Whittington & James Heilpern

"Subject To The Jurisdiction" As Legal Text by Keith E. Whittington & James Heilpern

Abstract
The Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees citizenship to all persons born in the United States and "subject to the jurisdiction thereof." This Article challenges the allegiance-based model by applying an original public meaning framework to the Citizenship Clause. Drawing on mid-nineteenth-century legal and legislative sources, the Article demonstrates that "subject to the jurisdiction" was a conventional legal term of art signifying that an individual was within the governing authority and protection of the sovereign. The Article concludes that the original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment reinforces a broad, territorial rule of birthright citizenship that is independent of parental allegiance or immigration status.