jan 1, 1898 - United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898)

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The Chinese Exclusion Acts prohibited Chinese immigrants from becoming citizens. Additionally, by treaty, no Chinese person could become a naturalized citizen in the US. Wong Kim Ark, a Chinese American man born in San Francisco to Chinese citizens living in US, visited China when he was 21. When he came back to the US, he was denied entry because he was not a citizen.
In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment automatically made him a US Citizen since Wong was born in the country and his parents weren't "employed in any diplomatic or official capacity under the Emperor of China."

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