‘I Am a U.S. Citizen Because the Constitution Said So’: Americans Rally Outside Supreme Court to Defend Birthright Citizenship

The fight around birthright citizenship was at the Supreme Court, where justices on Wednesday heard arguments in Trump v. Barbara, the case around the Trump administration’s blatantly un-American effort to terminate this constitutional right – a protection explicitly guaranteed in the 14th Amendment – through an executive order.

Inside the courtroom, at least four of the conservative justices – including Chief Justice John Roberts – appeared “skeptical” of the government’s arguments, Democracy Docket observed. In a telling moment, the president reportedly left before oral arguments even finished, walking out while American Civil Liberties Union National Legal Director Cecillia Wang began her arguments. Outside the courtroom, hundreds of advocates united to voice one unequivocable message: if you’re born in America, you’re an American – period.

It’s personal for Ruth Delgado, one of the hundreds of rally attendees and Digital Media Manager at America’s Voice. “I am a U.S. citizen because the Constitution said so,” Delgado said.

“While Trump wants to revoke this constitutional right for future generations and decide who in this country gets to be an ‘American,’ we know we belong,” she continued. “I am using my voice and my privilege to #DefendBirthright for future generations to come.” Members of the crowd were heard chanting, “Defend the 14th Amendment, it is ours!’”

Rally attendees also included a descendant of Wong Kim Ark, the San Francisco-born Chinese American cook whose historic Supreme Court battle more than 125 years ago affirmed the constitutional principle that everyone born here is American. Norman Wong, Mr. Ark’s great-grandson, felt it was important to be outside the court to connect his ancestor’s fight to the struggles of today.

His great-grandfather “knew he was an American,” Mr. Wong said. “And he demanded that his citizenship be recognized. He was willing to stand up. Wong Kim Ark didn’t make the rule. He affirmed the rule.”

In his remarks to the crowd, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) said that if you want to know where to stand on birthright citizenship, all you have to do is look at what our Constitution says. “The 14th Amendment: All persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States. If you’re born here, you are a citizen. It couldn’t be more clear,” Sen. Padilla said.

“And yes, this is personal for me,” he continued. “I’m a proud citizen of the United States. And I’m a proud son of immigrants. And the moment I was born on U.S. soil, I was born a citizen.”

In his state-of-play prior to Wednesday’s oral arguments, America’s Voice legal advisor and former American Immigration Lawyers Association President David Leopold noted the far-reaching damage and chaos that will follow should the court ultimately side with the administration’s bunk legal reasoning.

“Would physicians be required to report pregnancy and maternity information to immigration authorities? Would ICE agents be stationed in hospitals? Would existing U.S. citizens face denaturalization? Would Americans be required to produce not only their own papers, but those of their parents? And perhaps most chillingly, would millions of American-born children be rendered stateless?”

Migration Policy Institute notes that over the next 50 years, an average of about 255,000 children born on U.S. soil every single year “would start life without U.S. citizenship based on their parents’ legal status.”

“This is not a serious policy proposal aimed at fixing the immigration system,” Leopold continued. “It is a signal of cruelty directed at the children of immigrants, and it serves a more nefarious goal: relegating those children into a permanent underclass, forever subject to exploitation by unscrupulous employers. It also places children who were born and raised in this country, and who are currently guaranteed citizenship, at risk of denaturalization, detention, and deportation.”

“I myself am a 14th Amendment citizen because my parents had not yet naturalized when I was born,” Wang shared following the conclusion of oral arguments in the case. “So I walked in today with the spirit of my parents, and so many people’s ancestors, in that first generation of Americans, whether they naturalized or not, I consider them all Americans.”

Rally attendee Diego Bartesaghi was also present for his community members, telling HuffPost that he rode a bus for ten hours to show his support for our constitutional values. “It is a long day,” he said. “But we are here because, you know, our democracy is under attack.”

“This is like a good opportunity to show that even though we’re fighting our own battles, we’re here together, and we’re showing that we’re not alone,” he continued. “We’re fighting for the same cause.”

Jackie Carroll-Garcia told HuffPost that her train trip to Washington, D.C. was seven hours. “An African American woman, she said she came to represent her largely Latino community and her grandchildren who have a Mexican dad,” the report said. Chef José Andrés, famed humanitarian and advocate for immigrant families, was also at the rally to argue for longer tables, not higher walls:

America’s Voice Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas said that for 250 years, America has been shaped by immigrants from all over the world – and the 14th Amendment has been “fundamental” to that American story. “That is my story, and the story of every American who is a descendant of an immigrant, including every Justice sitting on the Supreme Court bench today,” she said.

“The fact that the Trump Administration is now taking aim at a 14th amendment that moved America closer to realizing its founding principles that all people are created equal is a disturbing reminder of the motivations of President Trump and Stephen Miller,” Cárdenas continued. “We look to the Supreme Court to rise to the moment and reaffirm our history and our values, and to uphold the concept of a nation built on the premise of E Pluribus Unum – Out of Many, One.”