California politicians react strongly to Supreme Court birthright case
California politicians are optimistic that they will prevail after challenging a White House executive order to end birthright citizenship, which ensures citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil.
President Donald Trump issued his order last year limiting citizenship for children born to immigrants who are here illegally or temporarily, a chief priority of his immigration adviser Stephen Miller.
California has been the birthplace of birthright citizenship since 1898, when the Supreme Court ruled that Wong Kim Ark, a San Francisco man who was born in the U.S. to Chinese parents, was a legal U.S. citizen.
Attorney General Rob Bonta joined 18 other states in challenging Trump’s executive order in January 2025. Lower courts blocked the order from going into effect, saying it was unconstitutional and violated the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the U.S. after slavery ended.
Supreme Court justices seemed skeptical of the White House’s position during a Wednesday hearing where Solicitor General Dean John Sauer and American Civil Liberties Union legal director Cecilia Wang, who is herself a birthright citizen, gave oral arguments.
Bonta, the son of Filipino immigrants, called birthright citizenship “foundation to American democracy.”
“It’s the promise that any child born here is equal under American law, regardless of race, class, creed, or parental background. It tells you something that President Trump willfully chose to start his second term by trying to knock down this fundamental and longstanding right,” he said in a statement. “Fortunately, I believe he will fail. Every court to date has rejected the President’s unlawful overreach of executive power, and after listening to oral arguments today, I’m optimistic that the Supreme Court will again affirm the constitutional right to birthright citizenship.”
California Sen. Alex Padilla joined immigration advocates at a rally outside the Supreme Court as justices heard oral arguments. Padilla, who also is the son of immigrants, called it “unbelievable” that birthright citizenship is even being debated given the 14th Amendment states citizenship is granted to any person born in the U.S. “The 14th Amendment speaks for itself ... Well, obviously, there’s some politician who would rather have it a different way,” Padilla said. “Donald Trump and his allies want to be able to select who’s a citizen and who’s not. He wants to be able to pick who gets to be an American and who doesn’t. He wants to decide who counts in our democracy, in our society, and who doesn’t. It’s wrong, it’s un-American, and it’s dangerous.” Last year, Padilla cosponsored legislation to block the implementation of Trump’s executive order.
The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in early summer. Trump attended Wednesday’s hearing in person, a first for any sitting president, along with Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow ‘Birthright’ Citizenship!” Trump wrote on Truth Social after the hearing.
In reality, almost every country in the Americas grants birthright citizenship.
