The great-grandson of the Chinese American man whose landmark Supreme Court case established birthright citizenship in the United States called Tuesday’s high court ruling a win for every American, saying it reaffirmed a constitutional guarantee that has stood for over a century.
“I don’t consider this stuff a personal victory,” Norman Wong told The Associated Press. “It’s an obligation and a duty for every American to care about this because ultimately we’re not fighting for the rights of Chinese or Japanese or whatever. We’re fighting for rights for all Americans because these are fundamental rights.”
Wong, 76, has emerged as an unlikely public advocate for birthright citizenship. He began speaking out and giving interviews in January 2025, shortly after President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring that children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally or on a temporary basis would not be considered American citizens.
In a 6-3 decision, a divided Supreme Court upheld a broad interpretation of birthright citizenship, rejecting Trump’s arguments.
Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion, which held that the long-established understanding of the Fourteenth Amendment — ratified following the Civil War — grants citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, with only very narrow exceptions.
Three justices dissented: Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas. Thomas wrote that the Fourteenth Amendment “was designed and understood to secure equal rights for the freed blacks but has instead been repurposed for political projects that the Reconstruction Congress did not support.”
Trump responded to the ruling by calling it “too bad for our Country” and incorrectly suggested that Congress could “easily” fix the matter through legislation. However, the majority’s ruling is grounded in constitutional interpretation, meaning it would require a constitutional amendment — not just a law — to override the decision.
Wong described the executive order Trump signed on the first day of his second term as an unconstitutional “decree.”
“If it didn’t fly in the face of the Constitution, the Supreme Court would have ruled differently today,” Wong said. “That’s unfortunate that we have a leader that wants the United States to be in his image, but that’s not what we’re supposed to be. He’s supposed to conform to what we the people believe in.”
The legal foundation for birthright citizenship for children of immigrants was expanded in the late 1800s. Wong Kim Ark was born in San Francisco in 1873. While returning by steamship from China in 1895, he was denied reentry into the United States. He took his case to court, and in 1898 the Supreme Court ruled in his favor, establishing that under the Fourteenth Amendment, citizenship is determined by place of birth — not the citizenship status of one’s parents.
Norman Wong has long been involved in social justice causes. As a student at the University of California, Berkeley in the 1970s, he joined the multiracial student-led Third World Liberation Front and witnessed firsthand how the term “Asian American” helped unite various student groups under a common cause.
It wasn’t until he was in his 50s that Wong learned Wong Kim Ark was his great-grandfather. His father had rarely spoken about family history, but journalists from Chinese-language newspapers reached out after spotting the family name in old court records.
Wong never anticipated becoming an advocate for a civil rights movement in his 70s. But last year, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association — the same organization that financed Wong Kim Ark’s original legal battle — invited him to speak at a press conference. Since then, Wong, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, has given speeches and interviews and even traveled to Washington in April to attend the Supreme Court oral arguments in person.
“I consider myself lucky enough to actually have a meaningful role,” Wong said. “All that citizenship grants is the stuff that was the promise of America, which is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
The Justice Department issued a statement saying it is “committed to tackling illegal birth tourism schemes by working diligently with U.S. Attorneys across the country to uphold the law.” In a post on the social platform X, the department added: “Actors seeking to exploit loopholes to obtain automatic citizenship for their children pose a national security threat and will be brought to justice.”
Cecillia Wang, the national director of the American Civil Liberties Union, argued in favor of birthright citizenship before the Supreme Court. In a statement following the ruling, she said the court “reaffirms a fundamental American promise — if you are born here, you are a citizen.”
“A president cannot change the Constitution by executive fiat,” Wang said. “Our brave clients and our legal team stand with millions of people around our country who spoke up for one of our most cherished rights.”
Wang was born in the United States to parents who legally immigrated from Taiwan as graduate students. The fact that she was the attorney who argued the case — nearly 130 years after Wong Kim Ark won his — made the outcome even more meaningful, Norman Wong said.
“It’s kind of sweet because — especially for Chinese Americans — they were at the forefront of all this anti-Asian hate,” Wong said. “There are certain aspects of my life where I think what happened actually prepared me for what’s happening now.”
