The century-old legal precedent confirming that those born in the United States are citizens has deep ties to San Francisco’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (May 14, 2025) – San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) leaders issued statements today underscoring the crucial importance of birthright citizenship on the eve of oral argument in several cases before the United States Supreme Court on the issue. Birthright citizenship is the longstanding legal principle that people born in the United States are citizens. This foundational right was enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment and affirmed in a Supreme Court case originating from San Francisco’s Chinese American community in the late 1800s.
President Trump issued an Executive Order on January 20, 2025, to end birthright citizenship, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Section 1401 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. San Francisco and a coalition of states across the country immediately filed a lawsuit, New Jersey v. Trump, to block Trump’s unconstitutional Executive Order from taking effect. Federal judges in San Francisco’s case and two other similar cases granted preliminary injunctions preventing the Trump Administration from enforcing the Executive Order. The Trump Administration appealed the lower court decisions, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear the cases in a hearing on May 15.
“Birthright citizenship is as clear cut as legal principles can be, and the story of birthright citizenship is as San Francisco as they come,” San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, the first Asian American City Attorney of San Francisco. “The Constitution’s guarantee of this right was affirmed in a 127-year-old Supreme Court case brought by a San Franciscan named Wong Kim Ark, who was born in the U.S. to immigrant parents. As someone born to immigrant parents, I know my status in our country would not be possible without the courage of Wong Kim Ark and San Francisco’s Chinese American community. They fought for our constitutional rights over a century ago, and we in turn will continue the fight so that future generations of Americans are not deprived of their rights.”
“President Donald Trump is threatening birthright citizenship, the constitutional right that one of my ancestors, Wong Kim Ark, fought for in a landmark 1898 Supreme Court case,” said Norman Wong, Descendant of Wong Kim Ark. “His courage and legacy affirmed this right for millions of others who call America their home. Attacks led by this administration on the constitutional right my ancestor fought hard for are only meant to divide us further, but we cannot let that happen. I continue to honor Wong Kim Ark’s legacy, because it is my legacy, too.”
“As San Francisco’s first Asian American sheriff and the son of U.S.-born parents of Japanese and Chinese descent, I know that birthright citizenship is not just a legal doctrine—it is a promise of belonging that has shaped generations of families like mine,” said San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto. “We cannot allow a precedent that has protected countless Americans – originating here in San Francisco through the courage of Wong Kim Ark—to be unraveled. I have spent my entire career protecting and defending the rights of all members of our community, and I stand united with City Attorney Chiu to ensure that no child born in this country is made a stranger in their own home.”
“I am proud that my parents were able to immigrate to the United States from India as a result of the Civil Rights Movement,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju. “We must draw upon the same principles of equality and fairness to reject xenophobic and unlawful attempts to roll back the Constitutional rights of millions of Americans.”
“Recently I sat down for dinner with an amazing group of women. What inspired me was the common thread of the strength and learning these women had growing up in immigrant and working families and how those lived experiences influenced their drive to serve,” said San Francisco City Administrator Carmen Chu. “These were doctors, non-profit executives, public servants, and entrepreneurs. Some were first generation immigrants, others from generations born in the United States. Birthright citizenship is a fundamental constitutional right and it makes where we are born more than just a place but instead a home that we love, protect and strive to make better.”
“Birthright citizenship is a hard fought well-earned constitutional right decided by the Supreme Court over 125 years ago. Since then, generations of immigrants have contributed to the wealth and success of the United States,” said San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan. “In the name of Wong Kim Ark, we are committed to protect this right once again as it is being challenged before the Supreme Court. We ask the Court to once again affirm Birthright Citizenship as the Law of the Land.”
“The President’s Executive Order to revoke birthright citizenship is a blatant attack on a Constitutional right and rolls back progress that generations of Chinese Americans have fought for in this country,” said San Francisco Supervisor Chyanne Chen.
“Like many San Franciscans, I wouldn’t be where I am without Birthright Citizenship. Our forefathers were deliberate in enshrining this American right in the Constitution and as Americans, it’s our duty to defend and protect what is just,” said San Francisco Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, the first South Asian elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and son of Pakistani immigrants. “Now more than ever it is important to speak out against actions to strip our rights and stand up to fight for our democracy.”
“We must not allow history to move backward. Our lawful rights cannot be violated,” said Jason Kuang, President of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in San Francisco. “We will carry forward the proud legacy of our ancestors, walk in their footsteps, and continue the fight to uphold the integrity and dignity of the Constitution.”
“The nationwide injunctions ordered by three federal judges must be upheld, or innocent newborns will face irreparable harm,” said Annie Lee, Managing Director of Policy at Chinese for Affirmative Action. “Chaos will result if babies born in some states are granted citizenship while others are not. No child should be denied their full rights as Americans. Communities of color, including Asian Americans, have long fought for the right of citizenship because we believe in American democracy, and we will continue to fight to uphold its promise for everyone.”
“This is a right that was fought for over a century ago by Wong Kim Ark—a Chinese American and San Francisco native—whose courage helped establish birthright citizenship as a constitutional guarantee,” said Sherman Tang, President of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance San Francisco Lodge. “His legacy is a reminder that the rights we benefit from today came through struggle and must continue to be defended. Any attempt to undo this protection threatens not only Asian Americans, but the very promise that all people born in this country are equal under the law.”
Background
Birthright citizenship dates back centuries—including to pre-Civil War America. Although the Supreme Court’s notorious decision in Dred Scott denied birthright citizenship to the descendants of slaves, the post-Civil War United States adopted the Fourteenth Amendment to protect citizenship for all children born in this country.
In 1895, Wong Kim Ark, a Chinese American born in San Francisco on Sacramento Street to immigrant parents, was traveling back from China to his home in San Francisco. He was denied re-entry into the United States at the Port of San Francisco on the grounds that he was not a citizen and so was subject to the Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited entry of Chinese nationals into the United States. With the support of Chinese families and the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, who raised monies for his legal defense, Wong Kim Ark challenged this decision all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1898, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-2 decision, ruled in favor of Wong Kim Ark, finding that the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment automatically made him a U.S. citizen, and thus, he could not be denied entry into his home country.
The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly confirmed that birthright citizenship does not depend on the immigration status of a baby’s parents. If allowed to stand, Trump’s Executive Order—for the first time since the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted in 1868—would mean over 150,000 babies born each year across the country would be denied the privileges and benefits of citizenship.
The children whose citizenship would be stripped by President Trump’s Order would lose their most basic rights, and would be forced to live under the threat of deportation. They would be effectively stateless since they will have never lived anywhere else. They would lose eligibility for a wide range of federal services and programs. They would lose their ability obtain a Social Security number and, as they age, to work lawfully. They would also lose their ability to obtain a passport. And they would lose their right to vote, serve on juries, and run for certain offices.
In addition to harming hundreds of thousands of residents, the President’s Order would significantly harm state and local jurisdictions, too. Among other things, the Order will cause the jurisdictions to lose federal funding to programs that they administer, such as Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and foster care and adoption assistance programs, which all turn in part on the immigration status of the resident being served. Cities and states would also be required—at their considerable expense—to immediately begin modifying their operation and administration of benefits programs to account for this change, which would impose significant burdens on multiple agencies that operate programs for residents. Cities and states should not have to bear these dramatic costs while their case proceeds because the Order is directly inconsistent with the Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and two U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
The City and County of San Francisco is joined in its lawsuit by the states of California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin, as well as the District of Columbia.
The cases before the U.S. Supreme Court are Trump v. New Jersey, Trump v. CASA, Inc., and Trump v. Washington, Case No. 24A886. Oral argument will begin tomorrow, May 15 at 7:00 a.m. PST. An audio livestream is available on the Court’s website.
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