The word “alien” or “aliens” appeared dozens of times in the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship.

Many of the references — to “alien parents,” “alien nations,” “transient aliens” and “domiciled aliens” — referred to prior legal cases.

But one mention inside the June 30 ruling stood out. Justice Clarence Thomas, in his lengthy dissent, cited the 1857 Dred Scott decision, in which the court held that people of African descent could not be U.S. citizens.

Thomas, in crafting his opinion, didn’t merely quote the term from an earlier case. He used “illegal aliens” himself.

“The Court today takes the extraordinary step of holding facially unconstitutional the President’s Order excluding from citizenship the children of foreign temporary visitors and illegal aliens,” he wrote.…