The Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Pennsylvania joins NAPABA coalition in amicus brief defending birthright citizenship

The Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Pennsylvania (APABA-PA) joins the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) and over 40 other affiliate bar associations from around the country in an amicus brief to defend the constitutional right to birthright citizenship. The brief was filed today in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in the case State of Washington, et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al. (No. 25-807), on appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. This case concerns Executive Order 14160, which seeks to limit birthright citizenship in the United States to only the children of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, excluding the children of legal visa-holders, asylum seekers, and undocumented immigrants, among other groups. Our amicus brief supports affirmance of the nationwide preliminary injunction issued by The Honorable John C. Coughenour, enjoining implementation and enforcement of EO 14160 on the basis that it violates the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The amicus brief highlights the core principles established in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898), which has been distorted in attempts to justify the constitutionality of EO 14160. In Wong Kim Ark, the Court upheld the conferral of citizenship to children born in the U.S. to non-citizen parents under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause. Through this brief, amici curiae seek to underscore the historical significance of this precedent, the role of Asian Americans in shaping our nation’s foundational immigration and civil rights precedents, and the disproportionate harm that would fall upon the Asian American communities if EO 14160 is not enjoined.

For these reasons, APABA-PA proudly joins the NAPABA coalition in today’s amicus brief in defense of birthright citizenship. A copy of the brief can be found here.