As the court filings continue to pile up in cases against President Donald Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship, San Francisco is gearing up for a busy week to support the man behind the historic ruling.
Wong Kim Ark, the man born to Chinese immigrants, successfully defended his claim he was a U.S. citizen in the supreme court in San Francisco. It will be 127 years since that landmark ruling on Friday.
Ark was celebrated in an event in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Monday. His descendants, including Sandra Wong, were sitting in the front row as event organizers educated the crowd about him.
All this week, there will be multiple events in San Francisco to commemorate Ark and the ruling.
“I feel really proud. It’s hard to put into words because it’s much bigger than all of us,” Wong said.
But Ark’s win is in jeopardy as Trump recently signed an executive order to end the birthright of children born to undocumented immigrants. His order has been tied up in legal battles.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to narrow the lower court orders so it could begin putting its new policy into effect.
In a recent move, Tennessee’s attorney general is backing up Trump, saying the highest court has never squarely addressed the scope of the citizenship clause.
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu is part of a cohort of state attorney generals that sued the administration, where courts have so far ruled in their favor.
Chiu said that reversing the 14th Amendment would create chaos.
“It would mean an entire generation of newborns born here in the United States wouldn’t be citizens, but they wouldn’t have citizenship anywhere else. They would literally be stateless,” he said.
Ark was born in the 700 block of Sacramento Street in San Francisco in the 1800s. On Friday, a plaque to recognize the historic location will be unveiled.
“Now, it’s kind of reminding ourselves that we’ve always been makers of history and it’s our time to be called again to do so,” said Hudson Liao with Asians Are Strong.
“The fight isn’t over,” Wong said.
Friday will also be proclaimed “Wong Kim Ark Day” in San Francisco and two Bay Area lawmakers will introduce a resolution to affirm birthright citizenship at the state level.
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