San Francisco leaders on Friday commemorated nearly 130 years since the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed birthright citizenship to everyone born in the country, including the children of all immigrants. Sergio Quintana reports.
San Francisco leaders on Friday commemorated nearly 130 years since the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed birthright citizenship to everyone born in the country, including the children of all immigrants.
The plaintiff in that case was Wong Kim Ark, who was born and raised in San Francisco's Chinatown.
At the corner of Grant and Sacramento streets in Chinatown Friday, Mayor Daniel Lurie and City Attorney David Chiu unveiled a plaque honoring Ark and presented a proclamation to his great grandson. Lurie also declared Friday as Wong Kim Ark day in San Francisco.
The corner is where Ark was born back in 1873, the child of Chinese immigrants. As a young man, he helped shape legal precedent for U.S. citizenship after officials argued he was not a legal U.S. citizen.
The case went to the Supreme Court, which affirmed birthright citizenship to everyone born in the U.S. It's a case that's getting a lot of attention these days as President Donald Trump attempts to set new limits on who is and is not a U.S. citizen by birth.
"No matter where your parents were born, if you are born in this country, you belong here," Lurie said.
In January, Trump signed an executive order aimed at rescinding birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants born on U.S. soil. It was quickly blocked by at least two federal judges, but the administration is now appealing those rulings to the Supreme Court.
Norman Wong, Ark's great grandson, said Trump's efforts to roll back anyone's rights is a threat to everyone's rights.
"Where's the Constitution? Our laws are based on it," he said. "If you take away the underlying foundation of that, our laws are no longer laws."
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Annie Lee with Chinese Affirmative Action said community groups and civil rights organizations are closely watching the current case.
"We'll see what happens, but this is a fundamental right that we are going to fight for, and we will not back down," she said.
Chiu joined several state attorneys general to challenge Trump's birthright order. On Friday, he and several other city leaders pledged to continue battling the administration.
