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By Accident of Birth

Painted portrait of Wong Kim Ark in the AAPI Community Heroes Mural, located in San Francisco's Chinatown. Julie Caine/AAPI Community Heroes Mural, San Francisco Chinatown, 2022 hide caption

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Julie Caine/AAPI Community Heroes Mural, San Francisco Chinatown, 2022

Throughline

By Accident of Birth

In August of 1895, a ship called the SS Coptic approached the coast of Northern California. On that boat was a passenger from San Francisco, a young man named Wong Kim Ark who was returning home after visiting his wife and child in China. He'd taken trips like this before, and expected to come back to the city he was born in, to his life and friends. But when the ship docked, officials told him he couldn't get off. The customs agent barred him according to the Chinese Exclusion Act, which denied citizenship to Chinese immigrants. Though Wong Kim Ark had been born in the U.S. and lived his whole life there, the agent said he was not a citizen.

By Accident of Birth

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FACT CHECK: 14th Amendment On Citizenship Cannot Be Overridden By Executive Order

President Trump prepares to depart for Pittsburgh, where 11 people were killed Saturday in a mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue. In an interview with Axios, the president says he intends to sign an executive order ending birthright citizenship. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

National

FACT CHECK: 14th Amendment On Citizenship Cannot Be Overridden By Executive Order

President Trump is floating a new tactic in his immigration crackdown — he wants to end the right to citizenship for babies born in the U.S. to noncitizens. Few legal experts believe it can be done.

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