How Wong Kim Ark’s legacy reignited the fight for birthright citizenship
Al Jazeera – News
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Sandra Wong did not know her great-grandfather growing up. But Trump has pledged to keep fighting birthright citizenship, as part of his crackdown on immigration. He called on Congress to amend the Constitution, and this week, Trump even asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision. It had been ratified after the US Civil War to rescind a Supreme Court ruling that denied citizenship to Black people. Anti-immigrant riots broke out up and down the western seaboard. On the day of his 2025 inauguration, Trump issued an executive order to limit birthright citizenship to children born to at least one parent with permanent residency or citizenship. Advocates for birthright citizenship have warned that overturning Wong's Supreme Court victory would have longlasting consequences, effectively leaving certain children stateless. But Trump has argued that birthright citizenship incentivises practices like "chain migration", in which citizens sponsor immigration applications for family members. Trump has also argued that the Supreme Court's understanding of birthright citizenship is divorced from its original meaning. According to Nackenoff, Wong's Supreme Court victory largely reinforced a pre-existing understanding of US citizenship.
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Sandra Wong did not know her great-grandfather growing up. But his legacy would catapult her into the public eye.
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