For many in California, the Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship decision is personal

A Santa Ana native, Mia Verdin considers herself privileged to be able to call herself a U.S. citizen.

Verdin, along with her two younger brothers, was born in the U.S., which means they are citizens despite their parents’ immigration status. It’s a pivotal part of her family’s story, the 21-year-old said.

And it’s one the U.S. Supreme Court upheld on Tuesday, June 30, when it ruled the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution means children born in the U.S. — even to parents unlawfully or temporarily in the country — are citizens at birth.

An estimated 24,500 children are born each year in California who fall under the birthright citizenship category, according to the state attorney general’s office.

Verdin’s parents, Bob and Vanessa, immigrated, without documentation, into the country from Mexico more than two decades ago. They both settled in Santa Ana, where they met as coworkers in a patio furniture business.

“They got together. They worked really hard. They saved up enough money to be able to buy the business from their boss when he retired,” Verdin said, proudly.

They’ve raised three children. Their eldest will soon graduate from one of the top public universities in the country: UC Berkeley.

“They’ve had to move mountains to get to where they are and to give their children the opportunities that they have,” Verdin said. “It’s a common thread I hear from my friends who are also birthright citizens, who are also first-generation students.”

Verdin’s parents “come pretty close” to the American Dream, she said. Birthright citizenship is a pivotal part of that story.

Tuesday’s decision struck a personal chord for Angelica Salas, too.

Born in Durango, Mexico, Salas’ father and brother were the first in her immediate family to cross the border, moving to Pasadena. Her mother soon followed suit, leaving Salas and her sister behind with their grandmother.

Eventually, the family had enough money to bring Salas, then 5 years old, and her sister to the U.S., traveling with her aunt and uncle. The uncle was the oldest of the group, Salas recalled, at just 16 years old.

“We grew up undocumented. When I was about maybe 11 years old, my mom was picked up during a raid in a factory. She was detained (and) deported, alongside my uncle and other coworkers,” Salas said. “For me, we had really grown up fearful of immigration, and one day that fear became real.”

Her mother was able to return to the U.S., along with her uncle, and the family would eventually gain legal status.

Salas’ brother, though, was born in the U.S. As was her own daughter. They were automatically citizens.

“It’s very close to home,” Salas, now the executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, a Los Angeles County-based immigrant rights organization, said, “because one thing (I thought of) this whole time was how hard we fought to be able to be citizens.”

“My mother is that person who has been undocumented, detained, deported, came back and hasn’t stopped voting since she’s been a citizen of the United States. She deeply believes that her role is to keep the doors open for other people,” Salas said. “All (my parents) wanted for me was to have an education and a better life. My mom saw me graduate, and then two weekends ago, she saw my daughter graduate from college.

“And what she said was, ‘Only in America do you get to see something like this happen in your lifetime,’” Salas said.

David Chiu is San Francisco’s city attorney who, along with California and other states, challenged President Donald Trump‘s executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship. But Tuesday’s decision was more than just a professional victory.

Chiu was the first of three kids born on American soil to his immigrant parents, he recounted in a social media video on Tuesday.

“I watched them sacrifice everything, leaving behind their families and all things familiar because they believed in our country,” Chiu said, noting those sacrifices are why he chose a path in public service. “For me, this issue of birthright citizenship has always been personal.”

President Donald Trump‘s attempt to end birthright citizenship is personal for many lawmakers in Southern California, too.

“Like millions of other Americans, I am the product of birthright citizenship, as I was born to Korean immigrants here in the United States,” Rep. Dave Min, D-Irvine, said when Trump first issued his executive order. “Almost all of us who claim citizenship of this great country are either birthright citizens or descended from birthright citizens.”

On Tuesday, Min applauded the court’s decision — but said it should never have been a case to be considered in the first place.

“Donald Trump does not get to rewrite the Constitution by executive order because he wants to decide who counts as American,” Min said.

Rep. Mike Levin, meanwhile, thought of his family on Tuesday.

While his mother was born in the U.S., making her a citizen, her parents — his grandparents — built their lives in the country after arriving from Mexico. His grandmother, Levin said, was a lawful permanent resident for her entire life, while his grandfather became a U.S. citizen at 50 years old.

“Under (Trump’s) theory, a child like my mom, born here to parents who were not yet citizens, could have been told she did not fully belong,” Levin, a Democrat who represents a district in Orange and San Diego counties, said. “The order he signed would have created exactly what the Constitution forbids, a permanent underclass of people born in this country and denied the country of their birth.”

“My grandpa waited 50 years to call himself a citizen of the country he already loved. He did everything this nation asked of him,” Levin added. “The idea that his daughter’s place in America could have depended on his immigration status in the year she was born is not just legally wrong. It is fundamentally un-American.”

“The promise is older than any of us, and it does not bend to one man’s politics. If you are born here, you are one of us. That is the country my family believed in,” Levin said.

Just after beginning his second term, Trump issued an executive order attempting to deny U.S. citizenship to children born after Feb. 19, 2025, whose parents are living in the country illegally, as part of his administration’s broad immigration crackdown.

Waiting on Tuesday’s decision was “a large burden on a lot of birthright citizens and in my community and people that I know,” said Verdin, who learned of the decision on her way to work.

“Although the fight isn’t over, in terms of protecting immigrant communities, I think it’s a big first step,” she said.

Min also said he experienced a wide range of emotions Tuesday morning, from relief to aggravation that some justices sided with the president over the Constitution.

“It makes me so concerned about not just my own future — I feel like I’m going to be fine here — but so many millions of Americans out there who may also be birthright citizens or in some other class of immigrant, like green card,” Min said. “If you’re a person of color in this country, a child of immigrants, if you grew up somewhere that might have been what Trump called a ‘(expletive) country,’ and your parents or grandparents came from there, do you feel a little less American, a little less secure right now? Probably.”

Multiple lawsuits, led by several states and a number of immigrant rights groups, ensued after the president’s executive order.

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution promises citizenship to those born on U.S. soil, a measure ratified in 1868 to ensure citizenship for former slaves after the Civil War. It was later expanded to immigrants’ children when the Supreme Court ruled that nearly anyone born in the U.S. — no matter their parents’ legal status — has citizenship.

That was a case that stemmed from Wong Kim Ark, who was returning home to San Francisco, where he was born, from a trip to China, where his parents were from. Despite having documentation attesting to his citizenship status, he was denied entry and ordered deported because his parents were not U.S. citizens.

Wong, while detained off the coast of San Francisco, mounted legal challenges, reaching the nation’s highest court — which ruled in his favor.

“As a birthright citizen, my own place in this country wouldn’t have been possible without Wong Kim Ark’s courage and the generations of families who fought to ensure that the Constitution applies to everyone,” said Chiu, the San Francisco city attorney.

Outside of the Americas, most countries follow the legal principle of jus sanguinis, or “right of blood,” with a child’s citizenship inherited from their parents, no matter the place of birth.

But American legal practice is descended in many ways from English common law, which had long provided for citizenship based on a child’s place of birth, the legal concept of jus soli, or “right of soil.” That being said, the United Kingdom abandoned that right of soil practice in 1981, and under new rules, people born there only get citizenship if at least one parent is a British citizen or has “settled status” under the law.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson earlier Tuesday lamented “birthing tourism,” referring to the practice of coming to a country with birthright citizenship solely to give birth so the child can be a citizen, and said that leads to people who “avail themselves of the welfare state and everything else.

Min acknowledged concern over “people abusing the system.” But the Irvine Democrat said that could be addressed with a bipartisan, comprehensive effort that makes reforms to the country’s immigration policy without using real people as a political football.

Trump, meanwhile, said it was “too bad” the Supreme Court ruled the way it did. But he called on Congress, in the meantime, to end birthright citizenship through legislation — with his support.

Hear more from California officials

Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Redlands: “The Supreme Court just affirmed what the Constitution says: if you’re born in America, then you’re an American citizen. Donald Trump can’t change that.”

Rep. Nanette Barragán, D-San Pedro: “SCOTUS confirmed what I believe is the foundation of who we are as a country: If you are born in America, you are American. Simple as that. Trump just lost his fight but the fight is not over. Four Justices seem to think otherwise.”

Attorney General Rob Bonta: “Today’s decision affirms a foundational tenet of American democracy: that every child born in this country, no matter their background, is equal under the law and can pursue the ‘American dream.’ It’s unconscionable that just hours after swearing to uphold the Constitution, President Trump attempted to rewrite history and the clear text of the 14th Amendment with an executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship. The Supreme Court’s decision today is a reminder that, no matter what he might wish, Trump is not a king.”

Rep. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana: “As President Ronald Reagan, the great Californian, once reminded us, what makes America great is that anyone can become an American. This decision preserves the rights of all children born in the United States to be American citizens. President Trump tried to create a class of people born without citizenship to further divide Americans, failing to recognize that the ability for anyone born in this country to be an American is what makes us exceptional. The highest court in the land has upheld the most fundamental American truth — that all are created equal.”

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach: “The 14th Amendment is clear: If you are born here, you are a U.S. citizen. SCOTUS should uphold the Constitution at all costs, not bend the knee to Donald Trump.”

Assemblymember Mark González: “On the court’s decision to narrowly uphold birthright citizenship, we saw the court side with the people of this nation. As the most fundamental right we have, this ruling ensures that if you are born on our soil, you are American. You belong here, and we will fight for your rights. No president or his cruel cronies can change that. In saying that, we cannot take this ruling for granted. We must continue to push back against attempts by this administration to silence people of color.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom: “Birthright citizenship is a constitutional guarantee, plain and simple. Today’s ruling preserves a promise that has defined America for generations and been a cornerstone of American democracy. The Constitution prevailed. We have all prevailed.”

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla: “This is personal. I am a proud son of immigrants. I was born in the United States. I am a proud citizen of the United States with freedom to pursue the ‘American dream.’ Yet, while we celebrate this ruling today, we cannot rest. Because this is certainly not the end of Trump’s attacks on our Constitution, our democracy, and the notion of what it means to be American. As Americans, we will continue to organize, vote, legislate, and litigate because our country depends on it.”

Rep. Luz Rivas, D-Pacoima: “For 250 years, our country was built and defined by immigrants and children of immigrants. This includes the contributions that Latino, Black and Asian communities have made to define the San Fernando Valley and Southern California. … While today’s ruling is a win against Trump’s illegal, anti-immigrant agenda, Congress must act to protect our communities from the Trump administration’s continued attacks. This includes strengthening the pathway to citizenship and stopping Donald Trump from further attempts to undermine our Constitution.”

Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Whittier: “Birthright citizenship should never have been up for debate, despite President Trump’s attempt to rewrite the Constitution to serve his extremist agenda. Thankfully, the Supreme Court rejected his executive order and reaffirmed what the 14th Amendment has guaranteed for nearly 150 years: Anyone born in the United States is a U.S. citizen. It’s one of the fundamental principles of who we are as a country, and no president gets to erase it.”

U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff: “Birthright citizenship has never been up for debate. The Constitution is clear that anyone born in the United States is an American citizen. Striking that down was a bridge too far for even this partisan Supreme Court. Today’s ruling is yet another loss for the Trump administration’s extreme agenda and its efforts to rewrite the Constitution to give it even more power over American life.”

Rep. Norma Torres, D-Pomona: “Today’s decision reaffirms what the Constitution has always made clear: No president has the authority to erase birthright citizenship. The Fourteenth Amendment is not open to political interpretation or executive overreach. Donald Trump’s attempt to rewrite the Constitution was unlawful from the start, and the Court was right to reject it. Birthright citizenship is a constitutional guarantee, not a bargaining chip for politicians looking to score political points by attacking immigrant families. I will always defend the Constitution and stand up for every child born in this country.”

Rep. Derek Tran, D-Orange: “I was born in the United States the year my refugee parents were admitted to this great country. They fled oppression and violence in communist Vietnam. It was because America welcomed my refugee parents that I was able to join the Army, start my own business and now represent California in Congress. Today’s decision affirms a fundamental constitutional principle that has defined the American dream for generations: Every child born in the United States is a citizen of the United States. This is a pillar of our democracy enshrined in the Constitution. As we approach the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, we must remain vigilant in defense of our Constitution and protect the fundamental rights that keep the American dream alive.”