In 1898, a young Chinese American cook from San Francisco changed our nation forever. Born above his parents’ store on Sacramento Street, Wong Kim Ark was denied entry to his own country after visiting family in China. Detained for months on steamships in the San Francisco Bay, he refused to back down - and his community had his back.
Wong Kim Ark’s courage led to a historic Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark. The Court affirmed what the 14th Amendment promised: if you’re born here, you are a citizen. This right is so fundamental that Congress wrote it directly into federal law in 1940 and again in 1952 where it remains today in the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Wong Kim Ark’s victory built upon the foundation of the Fourteenth Amendment, which was adopted after the Civil War to ensure citizenship rights for formerly enslaved people and their descendants. His case shows how different communities’ struggles for justice strengthen protections for everyone—the constitutional guarantee of citizenship secured by Black Americans and their allies in the wake of the Civil War became the basis for protecting citizenship rights for children of immigrants from all backgrounds. This tradition of communities supporting each other’s rights and building on each other's victories continues today.
Standing Against Threats to Birthright Citizenship
Today, President Trump has launched a new attack on birthright citizenship through executive action. The administration claims it can unilaterally decide which U.S.-born children qualify as citizens - a direct challenge to constitutional protections, Supreme Court precedent, and Congressional authority. We’ve seen these tactics before. Just as the Chinese Exclusion Act tried to define belonging based on race and national origin, today’s extremist administration attempts to divide us by stirring fear about immigrants and their children. They want us to blame our neighbors for problems, such as the cost of housing and food, which are actually created by a wealthy few.
We know the truth: No politician gets to decide if our kids and grandchildren can live freely and with every opportunity. Wong Kim Ark’s legacy lives on in countless families, students, community leaders, business owners, and neighborhoods who have joined together to put down unshakeable roots. We all benefit from the guarantee that all U.S.-born children are unquestionably citizens.
Taking Action to Protect Our Rights and Freedoms
The Asian Law Caucus, with the ACLU, ACLU of New Hampshire, Legal Defense Fund, State Democracy Defenders Fund, and other partners, filed a lawsuit challenging this illegal attack on U.S. citizens. Just as our community has done for over a century, we are ready to defend this cornerstone of U.S. democracy and ensure that all of us have the freedom to make a better life for our families.
To join us in defending birthright citizenship:
- Learn more about our legal challenge
- Read about Wong Kim Ark’s fight for justice and belonging (resources below)
- Support our work to ensure we have the resources to protect our freedoms
Together, we can protect Wong Kim Ark’s victory for all the generations to come.
More about Wong Kim Ark
- KQED: A 129-Year-Old San Francisco Lawsuit Could Stop Trump From Ending Birthright Citizenship
- Our Composite Nation and New York Historical Society: Wong Kim Ark’s Fight for Birthright Citizenship (video)
- NPR’s Throughline: By Accident of Birth (podcast)
- Hardeep Dhillon and Smithsonian Magazine: How the Fight for Birthright Citizenship Shaped the History of Asian American Families
- San Francisco Standard: This SF Man helped define what it means to be an American citizen