United States v. Wong Kim Ark; 169 U.S. 649 (1898); is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that virtually everyone born in the United States is a U.S. citizen. This decision established an important precedent in its interpretation of the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Wong Kim Ark; who was born in San Francisco to Chinese parents around 1871; had been denied re-entry to the United States after a trip abroad; under a law restricting Chinese immigration and prohibiting immigrants from China from becoming naturalized U.S. citizens. He challenged the government's refusal to recognize his citizenship; and the Supreme Court ruled in his favor; holding that the citizenship language in the Fourteenth Amendment encompassed essentially everyone born in the U.S.鈥攅ven the U.S.-born children of foreigners鈥攁nd could not be limited in its effect by an act of Congress.