For over a century, United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) has served as a legal cornerstone affirming birthright citizenship in America. Yet, as President Trump seeks to dismantle these protections through xenophobic policies, the same exclusionary logic that once denied Asian Americans their place in the nation threatens immigrant communities today. This piece examines Wong’s historic fight, the ongoing battle over the Fourteenth Amendment, and the urgent need for resistance against modern efforts to redefine who belongs in America.

When I interviewed my mother for a class assignment, she told me that in Korea, she stood on the ground. I imagined her body morphed into the thick chestnut trees planted near her grandmother’s countryside home. In America, my mother added, I float. A Hmong girl with sepsis.…