Subject to the Jurisdiction

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The Citizenship Clause’s key phrase—“subject to the jurisdiction”—refers to the power of the United States to govern those within
its territory. N. Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language 732 (def. “jurisdiction”); J. Worcester, Dictionary of the English
Language 1435 (def. “subject”). The scope of that power was settled
largely by Schooner Exchange v. McFaddon, 7 Cranch 116, where
Chief Justice Marshall explained that “jurisdiction” referred to “the
full and complete power of a nation within its own territories,” “susceptible of no limitation not imposed” by the nation itself. Id., at 136.
The narrow exceptions to jurisdiction arose where exercising jurisdiction would “degrade the dignity” of “foreign sovereigns”—most frequently in the case of “foreign ministers.” Id., at 136–139. But private
individuals who traveled to the United States for “business or caprice”
were “amenable to the jurisdiction of the country.” Id., at 144. Children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily
present here are thus subject to the Nation’s jurisdiction.

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