Precedent Setting Supreme Court Cases
1898: United States v. Wong Kim Ark
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This case defined citizenship under the fourteenth amendment. The defendant was a Chinese-American born in San Francisco to two noncitizens. He was denied access into the US on his return from a trip to China, and brought it to court, claiming he was a citizen.

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Wong Kim Ark was on in court to be allowed to enter America after being denied by a customs officer in the port of San Francisco. He was returning by boat from a yearlong trip in China, having lived in the US from the time of his birth in 1873 until his parents returned home in 1890. The district attorney participated in this case, representing the country. At that time, the Chinese Exclusion act was in place which prevented laborers that were citizens of China to enter the country. The court ruled that under the fourteenth amendment, as Wong Kim Ark was born in the US, he was a citizen and exempt from the Chinese Exclusion Act.

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