But in fact, proponents and opponents of birthright citizenship alike consistently interpreted the Act, just as they did the Fourteenth Amendment, to cover the children of aliens. In one exchange, Cowan, in a preview of his later opposition to the Howard text, “ask[ed] whether [the Act] will not have the effect of naturalizing the children of Chinese and Gypsies born in this country?” Trumbull replied: “Undoubtedly. … [T]he child of an Asiatic is just as much a citizen as the child of a European.”[33]

Finally, repeal proponents point out that our nation was founded upon the doctrine of consent of the governed, not the feudal principle of perpetual allegiance to the sovereign.[34] But that insight explains only why U.S. citizens enjoy the right of expatriation – that is, the right to renounce their citizenship – not whether U.S.-born persons are entitled to birthright citizenship.

History thus confirms that the Citizenship Clause applies to the children of aliens. To be sure, members of the 39th Congress may not have specifically contemplated extending birthright citizenship to the children of illegal aliens, for Congress did not generally restrict migration until well after adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment.[35]

But nothing in text or history suggests that the drafters intended to draw distinctions between different categories of aliens. To the contrary, text and history confirm that the Citizenship Clause reaches all persons who are subject to U.S. jurisdiction and laws, regardless of race or alienage.