Defining “American”: Birthright Citizenship and the Original Understanding of the 14th Amendment

Gibson Dunn of counsel James C. Ho is the author of "Defining ‘American’: Birthright Citizenship and the Original Understanding of the 14th Amendment" [PDF], published in the Summer 2006 isssue of the Green Bag. He has also published shorter articles on this issue in the Los Angeles Times, the Des Moines Register (Sep. 16, 2007), and other publications; testified before the Texas House of Representatives on behalf of the ACLU of Texas (Mar. 28, 2007); appeared on Fox News Radio; and addressed various audiences including the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the Mexican American Bar Association, and law school and lawyer chapters of the Federalist Society and the American Constitution Society across the country.  The issue may receive increasing attention as voters in California and Arizona consider proposed ballot initiatives to address the issue of birthright citizenship as a matter of state law. 

Reprinted with permission, 9 Green Bag 2d 367 (2006) copyright 2006 The Green Bag, Inc.