Birthright Citizenship and the Current Immigration Crisis

150 Years of Civil Rights Struggle

By Robert Chao Romero and Raymond Chang

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itizenship and immigration are among the key issues of our political moment. Immigration is a complex issue with more factors than are often considered in slogans or sound bytes, but a clear call in Scripture  is to care for the “sojourner in our midst.” This scriptural mandate must inform our thinking about birthright citizenship and our response to the Trump administration’s executive actions on this issue. Let's explore what the scripture says before considering our response.

In Leviticus 19:33-34, we read, “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

Similarly, Proverbs 5:10 states, “Let strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich the house of another.”

In Exodus 23:9 we see, “You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.”

While both major political parties have a poor track record when it comes to immigration issues, President Trump’s rhetoric and policy proposals  have spiked a palpable concern and fear among migrant communities and those who serve them. President Trump made immigration one of his leading campaign issues. This preemptively led colleges, universities and seminaries to encourage international students to (re)enter the U.S. before his administration began. 

Since entering office, President Trump has signed executive orders that target migrant communities. Trump also appointed some of the most stringent officials to tighten border control and remove those who are undocumented. An executive order to suspend the U.S. refugee program would potentially affect  “more than 1,600 Afghans who assisted America’s war efforts.” Those seeking political asylum began to see their flights and appointments canceled. Refugee resettlement agencies—including Christian ones—that receive federal funding were also told to halt their activities. A denaturalization task force was appointed in his first term, with denaturalization being a continued focus in his second term. Male Chinese nationals who are deemed to be living illegally in the U.S. of military age are possibly among the first to be targeted for deportation. His administration has targeted city and state officials who may lean on “sanctuary city” laws, like Chicago, in order to resist immigration crackdowns. Previously protected migrant groups, such as DACA recipients, have become an early focus . There are already reports that children of undocumented parents are not going to school in case their school or their house gets raided and they get separated from their families. 

If nothing else, this immigration crackdown shows that mercy towards migrant communities, particularly those that are undocumented, has been revoked.

In addition, prior to his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States, President Trump swore to end birthright citizenship, which grants people born in the US the right to citizenship.

Birthright citizenship comes from the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution:  “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”

President Trump's argument claims that the 14th amendment does not include those whose families are non-US citizens. History demonstrates otherwise. 

Birthright citizenship was enacted, and has since been employed, to protect the citizenship rights of those of African, Asian (specifically Chinese), and other ethnic minority descent. Throughout history,  there have always been those who have considered them illegitimate Americans. From 1790-1952, non-whites were barred from becoming naturalized US citizens. Birthright citizenship was originally passed by Congress after the Civil War to cancel out the US Supreme Court Dred Scott decision of 1858 which said that African Americans were not entitled to US citizenship. Even after the passage of the 14th Amendment in 1898, some attempted to deny birthright citizenship to Chinese Americans in the US Supreme Court case of Wong Kim Ark. Wong Kim Ark, though born in the US, was denied reentry after visiting China. Anti-Chinese activists claimed that the Chinese Exclusion Act (which was in effect officially from 1882-1943, and in practice until 1965) nullified birthright citizenship for Chinese Americans. 

Wong Kim Ark’s parents were non-US citizens. Like many other Chinese and Asian Americans in history, there was a long period of time in which Asian Americans were not afforded citizenship rights because they lacked pathways to citizenship—namely because they lacked the needed political power to advocate for such rights. Thankfully, the US Supreme Court disagreed and applied birthright citizenship to Chinese Americans. Native Americans, however, were not granted citizenship until 1924. 

And so, birthright citizenship, and citizenship in general, have been a hard fought civil rights struggle in the United States for well over 150 years. The settled law for over a century has been: if you are born in the US, then you are a US citizen.

Because the concept of birthright citizenship derives from the Constitution, a sitting president cannot just wipe it away unilaterally through an executive order. That would be like a president saying unilaterally that he/she is canceling out the constitutional rights to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, or the right to vote.

The Constitution can only be changed by a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate, together with ratification by three-quarters of the states. Absent such congressional action, the only other path for the executive order to stand is for the US Supreme Court to issue a bizarre ruling which radically departed from its own well established precedent for over a century. While this is unlikely to come to pass, we must remain vigilant. 

Plus, we know that there is already and will be a multi-pronged approach to targeting and expelling undocumented people—including those that had no choice in being here because they were brought by their parents at a younger age. 

It almost feels like we are advocating for the same issues of immigrant justice our forebears were fighting for in 1858.

While it is unlikely that Birthright Citizenship will be revoked, we know that it is not an impossibility. Regardless, there are so many other ways in which the vulnerable migrant community are exposed and made more vulnerable. Further, what seems to be taking place is a strategy to throw everything against the wall and see what sticks. This means there will be no shortage of things to address and work for and against.

So, what can we do as Christians?

1. Pray. Never stop praying. Always pray for and through the matters of greatest concern. Pray for righteousness and justice to roll down. We serve an all powerful God who is near to the brokenhearted.

2. We should stand with, listen to, and learn from the immigrant community. There are broader solutions that are certainly necessary and helpful, but oftentimes, the best and most nuanced understanding and most effective solutions come from those impacted most.

3. We need to surround the most vulnerable and ensure they know their rights. There are legal clinics and legal aid organizations throughout the country. There are many faith based efforts that are seeking to make a difference. Some are more local and others are national in focus. There are organizations like World Relief and Asian Americans Advancing Justice who advocate for vulnerable populations. There are local grassroots organizations that are worth supporting like Jubilee Immigration Advocates and the Immigration Resource Center of the San Gabriel Valley. 

4. Financially support organizations that are advocating for immigration rights, reform, and issues, and providing critical support services for those working with the vulnerable. There are a lot of organizations doing important work, whose work could be multiplied if they simply had the funding to do so. Oftentimes, organizational capacity funding is most needed for these organizations that put their energy into this work.

5. We need to work at the local, state, and national levels. AACC works mostly at the national level, but there are strong local efforts that we partner with (and don’t yet partner with because we aren’t aware of all the good work being done). As a citizen of your city, state, and country, you have the ability to exercise your voice and your vote. Regardless of whom you voted for, you can still advocate for issues you care about and for which you hold deep convictions. Advocate to your mayors, governors, members of Congress, and senators for the legislation you want to see. Call them, organize a group from your church to visit their office, or organize with other churches in your area to share your concerns and what you hope from them. 

6. Share helpful resources and articles with those in your networks. There are a lot of resources around topics like immigration you could glean from. The National Immigration Forum has a host of resources to draw from. Once you come across a resource, don’t be afraid to share it with others. Don’t underestimate the power of a text thread or an email chain and working through distributed networks.

7. Sign on and show up. There will likely be no shortage of statements made to advocate for and demonstrate support for migrant communities and immigrants, along with efforts to push for policies that will extend compassion and care, while upholding law. There will also be no shortage of opportunities to show up to protect the vulnerable sojourner in our midst and to speak truth to power. Calls for a raised floor for refugees seeking asylum, reforming our quota-based immigration system, and the creation of pathways for citizenship for undocumented people are going to be critical.

8. Seek ways to encourage your church to protect the “sojourner in your midst.” Churches can be unique spaces of resistance and safety for the vulnerable by activating sanctuary status. Speak with your leaders about what you could do as a church community to protect those who are living in fear and may be targeted.

Photo by Freddy G on Unsplash

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Rev. Dr. Robert Chao Romero is "Asian-Latino," and has been a professor of Chicana/o Studies and Asian American Studies at UCLA since 2005. He received his Ph.D. from UCLA in Latin American History and his Juris Doctor from U.C. Berkeley. Romero has published more than 30 academic books and articles on issues of race, immigration, history, education, and religion, and received the Latina/o Studies book award from the international Latin American Studies Association. His recent book, “Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity (2020),” received the InterVarsity Press Readers’ Choice Award for best academic title. Romero is a former Ford Foundation and U.C. President's Postdoctoral Fellow, as well as a recipient of the Louisville Institute's Sabbatical Grant for Researchers. Robert is also an ordained minister and community organizer.

Pastor Raymond Chang is the president of the Asian American Christian Collaborative, a pastor, and writer. He regularly preaches God’s Word and speaks throughout the country on issues pertaining to Christianity and culture, race and faith. He has lived throughout the world (Korea, Guatemala, Panama, Spain, China), traveled to nearly 50 countries, and currently lives in Chicagoland, serving as the Executive Director of the TENx10 Collaboration (an initiative of the Fuller Youth Institute at Fuller Seminary), which is a collaborative movement that is geared towards reaching 10 million young people over 10 years with the gospel). Prior to his role at Fuller, Raymond served for 7+ years as the Associate Chaplain for Discipleship at Wheaton College. He also worked in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors, and served in the Peace Corps in Panama. He has contributed chapters to several books including “Ministers of Reconciliation: Preaching on Race and the Gospel” (Lexham), “Confronting Racial Injustice: Theory and Praxis for the Church” (Cascade), “Preaching Romans from Here” (Wipf and Stock), with other books forthcoming. He is currently pursuing his PhD on the intersection of Spirituality and Campus/Organizational Racial Climates. He is married to Jessica Chang.