Wong Kim Ark, born in San Francisco to Chinese parents in 1873, became a central figure in the fight for birthright citizenship amid rising anti-Chinese sentiment. Following the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the U.S. mobility and naturalization laws became discriminatory. In 1895, upon returning from China, Wong's citizenship was denied despite his birth in America, highlighting the inequalities faced by Chinese immigrants. His story underscores the historically entrenched racism in U.S. immigration policy and the ongoing struggle for citizenship rights.
If you were a Chinese in America after 1882, you were totally excluded not only from coming, but if you were here in America you cannot be a naturalized citizen.
They say, look, you might have been born in San Francisco, but that doesn't make you a U.S. citizen. Yes, Black people, white people, everybody else who's born in the United States is a U.S. citizen, but not Chinese.
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