Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
► For more, visit Mother Jones: motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2026/04/birthright-citizenship-supreme-court-wong-kim-ark-norman-wong
Today, as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments over the future of birthright citizenship, the justices kept returning to one name: Wong Kim Ark.
Wong was born around 1870 in San Francisco's Chinatown, the son of Chinese parents who had settled in the United States. As a young man, he traveled to China, and when he tried to come home, he was stopped at the Port of San Francisco. He was denied entry on the grounds that he wasn't a US citizen because of his Chinese descent and his parents' status as non-US citizens.
His community in Chinatown pooled resources and hired lawyers. Their argument was straightforward: Under the 14th Amendment, Wong was a citizen. His parents' immigration status had nothing to do with it.
In 1898, the Supreme Court agreed. And for over a century since, Wong Kim Ark’s case has served as the definitive interpretation of the 14th Amendment: All children born in the United States are automatically US citizens.
That is, unless President Donald Trump gets his way.
Trump has been targeting birthright citizenship ever since his first term. On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order attempting to restrict it, limiting citizenship to children with at least one parent that is a US citizen or lawful permanent resident. Federal courts have blocked the order at every turn, but the Supreme Court agreed to take up the case, and today they did.
So we sat down with Wong Kim Ark's great-grandson, Norman Wong, a 76-year-old retired carpenter living outside San Francisco. His family has not only fought for the constitutional right to citizenship, they’re painfully aware of what it looks like when that citizenship, once won, can be used against you.
#trump #supremecourt #birthrightcitizenship #immigration
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► For more, visit Mother Jones: motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2026/04/birthright-citizenship-supreme-court-wong-kim-ark-norman-wong
Today, as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments over the future of birthright citizenship, the justices kept returning to one name: Wong Kim Ark.
Wong was born around 1870 in San Francisco's Chinatown, the son of Chinese parents who had settled in the United States. As a young man, he traveled to China, and when he tried to come home, he was stopped at the Port of San Francisco. He was denied entry on the grounds that he wasn't a US citizen because of his Chinese descent and his parents' status as non-US citizens.
His community in Chinatown pooled resources and hired lawyers. Their argument was straightforward: Under the 14th Amendment, Wong was a citizen. His parents' immigration status had nothing to do with it.
In 1898, the Supreme Court agreed. And for over a century since, Wong Kim Ark’s case has served as the definitive interpretation of the 14th Amendment: All children born in the United States are automatically US citizens.
That is, unless President Donald Trump gets his way.
Trump has been targeting birthright citizenship ever since his first term. On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order attempting to restrict it, limiting citizenship to children with at least one parent that is a US citizen or lawful permanent resident. Federal courts have blocked the order at every turn, but the Supreme Court agreed to take up the case, and today they did.
So we sat down with Wong Kim Ark's great-grandson, Norman Wong, a 76-year-old retired carpenter living outside San Francisco. His family has not only fought for the constitutional right to citizenship, they’re painfully aware of what it looks like when that citizenship, once won, can be used against you.
#trump #supremecourt #birthrightcitizenship #immigration
--
For more award-winning independent reporting, visit Mother Jones: motherjones.com
Facebook: facebook.com/motherjones
Twitter: twitter.com/motherjones
Instagram: instagram.com/motherjonesmag
