Who Was the San Francisco Man Who Sued the US Government 131 Years Ago Over Birthright Citizenship?

"Wong Kim Ark was a cook in San Francisco's Chinatown, and as the New York Times recounts today, he was just 24 years old when he sued the US government for denying him reentry to the country he was born in."

"Wong was asking the court the same question that the ACLU's attorney Cecillia Wang was asking today, which is how the 14th Amendment's language guaranteeing citizenship for all who are born here does not apply to a particular group of people."

"His parents decided to return to China in 1877, not long after a white mob ransacked SF's Chinatown on the night of July 24, 1877, an event that was covered in newspapers across the country."

"Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act two years later, explicitly barring more immigrants from China, which reflects the historical context of racial discrimination against Asian Americans."

The Supreme Court is examining the constitutionality of President Trump's executive order that denies birthright citizenship to children of undocumented migrants. This case references Wong Kim Ark, a Chinese American born in San Francisco in 1870, who challenged the government's denial of his citizenship. His case established that the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to all born in the U.S. The historical context includes the Chinese Exclusion Act and racial discrimination against Asian Americans.

Read at sfist.com