The little-known history of birthright citizenship

鲜为人知的出生权国籍史

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2025-05-15

21 分钟
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Norman Wong didn’t know his family’s history for most of his life. Now, the 75-year-old retired carpenter is fighting to save birthright citizenship and his great-grandfather’s legacy. His great-grandfather was Wong Kim Ark, a cook born to Chinese immigrants in San Francisco in 1870. After visiting family in China, Wong Kim Ark was denied reentry into the United States. The ensuing court battle made it up to the U.S. Supreme Court and enshrined the right to citizenship for almost any child born on U.S. soil, regardless of where their parents came from.  More than a century later, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to limit birthright citizenship. On Thursday, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments about the legal battle over the order. Norman Wong hopes that sharing his family story can influence that fight.  Today’s episode was produced by Laura Benshoff, with help from Emma Talkoff. It was edited by Maggie Penman and mixed by Sean Carter.  If you want to learn more about Wong Kim Ark and the landmark Supreme Court case that affirmed birthright citizenship, check out our podcast “Constitutional.”  Subscribe to The Washington Post here.
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  • So let's have Norman Wong, our special guest.

  • Let's give him a hand.

  • Hello, my name's Norman Wong.

  • I'm the great-grandson of Wong Kim Mark.

  • Wong Kim Mark was born in the USA.

  • Norman Wong is a 75-year-old retiree.

  • He lives near San Francisco.

  • And recently, my colleague David Nakamura went out to California to meet him.

  • He wasn't really like an activist.

  • He was a carpenter.

  • He sort of did odd jobs in building maintenance.

  • And he suddenly become, once Trump was in office again,

  • this sort of accidental activist who is now called upon to sort of be the public face of the campaign to sort of save birthright citizenship.

  • That's because Norman's great-grandfather had a huge role in defining birthright citizenship.

  • Here he is telling that story at a recent panel on immigration.

  • Like my great-grandfather, I too was born American.

  • In the same city, San Francisco, more than 75 years after him.

  • We are both Americans, but unlike him, my citizenship has never been challenged.

  • Birthright citizenship is something lots of Americans take for granted.

  • It's been settled law in the United States for more than 100 years.