Historical Record of Chinese Americans | Wong Kim Ark and Citizenship: Right of the Soil and Right of the Blood
United States citizenship law is founded on two traditional principles – “jus soli” (“right of the soil”) and “jus sanguinis” (“right of the blood”). A person born in the United States who is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States is a U.S. citizen at birth. However, this was not true more than 100 years ago. As a pioneer of Chinese immigrants in this country, Wong Kim Ark obtained his citizenship by challenging the U.S. law through “right of the soil” and later helped his sons (including one “Paper Son”) become U.S. citizens through “right of the blood”.
