The U.S. Supreme Court case Perkins, Secretary of Labor, et al. v. Elg (1938) revolved around the issue of citizenship and expatriation laws in relation to a woman named Marie Elizabeth Elg who was born in the United States to Swedish parents who later returned to Sweden with her when she was a minor. The court had to decide whether Ms. Elg lost her American citizenship due to her parents' decision or if she retained it as per birthright principles under the Fourteenth Amendment. In its ruling, the Supreme Court held that Ms.Elgs's US citizenship remained intact despite living abroad as a minor under parental authority because involuntary expatriation is not permitted by law; thus affirming that children born on U.S soil are citizens regardless of their parent’s nationality unless they voluntarily renounce it upon reaching adulthood themselves. This landmark decision reinforced jus soli - right of soil principle which grants automatic citizenship based on place of birth rather than ancestry or bloodline (jus sanguinis).

In the case of Perkins, Secretary of Labor, et al. v. Elg (1938), there was no dissenting opinion recorded by any justice in the Supreme Court's decision. The court unanimously ruled that a U.S.-born child who had been taken to another country by their parents and raised there could not lose their American citizenship as long as they returned to America upon reaching adulthood and chose to reside permanently in the United States. This ruling affirmed Miss Elg's right to her U.S citizenship despite her Swedish upbringing after being born on American soil.