“How do you prove citizenship for your newborn when it’s not based on a birth certificate anymore?” she said. “Parents are calling us, wondering if their baby’s going to be subject to deportation … and what will statelessness mean for my baby?”
One person who will be closely watching the oral arguments at the Supreme Court on Wednesday is Norman Wong. An East Bay resident and retired carpenter, Wong, 76, is the great-grandson of Wong Kim Ark.
Wong was born in San Francisco but didn’t grow up knowing the story of his ancestor or the role he played in U.S. history. He said when he first learned about Wong Kim Ark’s case 25 years ago, he thought it was “a curiosity of history” because birthright citizenship was settled law.
“I grew up knowing that I was American. All the kids that I ran around with, they knew they were American. Why? They were born here,” he said. “It’s like assuming every time you breathe in and out, you get air. It was part of your whole being. We were proud to be American.”
Wong plans to be outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday to remind people of his great-grandfather’s legacy and warn them that the rights he stood for can’t be taken for granted.
After Trump’s executive order, California immediately filed suit along with 23 other states, the city of San Francisco and the District of Columbia. While that case is not before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a “friend of the court” brief in the Barbara case.
“Every branch of government, across Administrations, has affirmed birthright citizenship, and the U.S. Supreme Court should uphold that right,” Bonta said. He added that California stands to lose federal funding for key health and education programs if nearly 25,000 babies born in the state each year lose the right to citizenship because of their parentage.
The effort to repeal birthright citizenship is part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration to restrict immigration and the rights of immigrants, including increasing arrests and deportations, halting refugee admissions, stripping temporary legal status from people fleeing war and instability, and invoking a travel ban against 39 countries.
The Trump administration’s argument restricting birthright citizenship hinges on the 14th Amendment clause, “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Many legal scholars argue that simply means people who were subject to the laws of the United States.
