Birthright Citizenship was upheld by the United States Supreme Court, following President Donald Trump’s attempt to end it via executive order on the first day of his second term.
It’s a fight that had its origins in Seattle.
Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown joined several other states in challenging the order, on behalf of what he estimated were thousands of Washingtonians who had citizenship through birthright.
“Even calling it into question has created fear: Women being afraid of seeking medical care because they don’t know what’s going to happen, kids being afraid of being separated from their families. And just the additional stress on working families. Immigrant families have the same types of stress as anyone else, any other Washingtonian,” Roxana Norouzi said.
Norouzi is the Executive Director of One America, an immigrant rights group that, in part, provides legal guidance to the citizenship process. Norouzi has citizenship through being born in the United States while her parents were granted asylum for fleeing from the Iranian Revolution. Her citizenship helped naturalize her parents; a process she says was much more straightforward than it is today.
“We will fight for a pathway for every person in this country to become a citizen, for people to come to this country and have the right to say. I fear for my life, and I’m seeking safety. Our country has continually stood to be a haven of safety,” Norouzi said.
Congressman Michael Baumgartner indicated the fight over birthright citizenship isn’t over in a post on social media.
“I’m disappointed the Court maintained the farcical notion that the 14th Amendment means that birthism-tourists can subvert the spirit of what it means to be a United States citizen. I agree with Judge Alito’s Dissent. Congress should work to close this loophole,” he posted.
President Trump also called for Congress to take up the issue, though others, like Florida Governor Ron Desantis suggested the higher bar of a constitutional amendment would be required.
“We should not continue to question things that are deeply written into our Constitution,” said Norouzi.