Hundreds rally outside Supreme Court to defend birthright citizenship against Trump’s executive order

WASHINGTON— As Supreme Court justices hear oral arguments in the birthright case, President Trump becomes the first president to attend such a hearing.

Outside court, the grandson of Wong Kim Ark, the San Franciscan whose landmark 1898 Supreme Court case upheld birthright citizenship, addressed the crowd of hundreds of people.

“Wong Kim Ark’s victory enabled me and millions of others to be recognized not as foreigners in the land of our birth, but as fully Americans,” Norman Wong said. “This case transformed the 14th Amendment from words on paper into a living promise. Today, that promise is still being tested.”

There was only one counterprotester, surrounded by protesters defending birthright citizenship. Wearing a red baseball cap and a sweatshirt that read “Chicago is going red,” the woman shouted into a megaphone as speakers addressed the crowd.

“Freedmen stand with Donald Trump,” the Rev. William Barber II said while speaking. “America first. Americans first.”

Undeterred, Barber stated that the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, made clear that everyone born in the United States was a citizen.

“The 14th Amendment protects babies from the caste system,” Barber said. “They did not allow evil in 1868, we will not allow evil in 2026.”

“Stop lying, priest,” the woman sneered.

After Barber finished speaking, the woman drowned out Aretha Franklin’s song “Respect” playing on the speakers.

Inside the building, the justices heard arguments over Trump’s executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship. The administration argued that children born to parents who are in the country illegally or on temporary visas should not be granted citizenship.

A Cameroonian man said he chose to speak out because he did not want future generations to be stateless and feel what he felt. The man said he was authorized to work under U.S. Temporary Protected Status until the Trump administration terminated that status last year.

“I know what it feels like to have your sense of belonging taken away from you overnight,” he said.

Nancy Jeannechild, 69, arrived from Baltimore with a handwritten sign telling the judges to “Do your job.” He said Trump has amassed too much power and the Supreme Court has not challenged him enough.

“This is another opportunity for them to do the right thing, and hopefully they will,” he said. “Just because Trump doesn’t like it doesn’t mean it’s not in the Constitution.”

29-year-old Araceli Hernandez attended the rally with her 1-year-old son. He said he immigrated from Honduras five years ago, and having his son born there meant he had better educational opportunities, access to healthcare and a safer living environment.

“We came to represent unborn children because they too have the right to a better future in this country,” he said.

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said he is confident birthright citizenship will apply because the Constitution is clear. As a proud American and the son of immigrants, he said the struggle is personal.

“I was born a citizen from the moment I was born on US soil, and I’ll be damned if Donald Trump tries to take that away from me,” he said. “It’s not just about citizenship; it’s about upholding the Constitution, respecting the rule of law, and keeping the promise of the 14th Amendment for more than 150 years.”

After the debates ended, Cecilia Wang, who leads the American Civil Liberties Union’s defense of birthright, addressed the crowd. He said he was confident the Trump administration would lose the case.

“Whether you are a native American, a descendant of enslaved and free African Americans, a descendant of someone who came on the Mayflower, or a descendant of someone who arrived just before your birth, we are all Americans the same,” he said. “This is the principle we defend together in the Supreme Court of the United States today.”