--- title: Supreme Court Protest Draws 500 Over Birthright Citizenship description: Members of Congress who benefited from birthright citizenship protested alongside those worried about what if their future kids. canonical: https://time.com/7285742/supreme-court-birthright-citizenship-protest/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-05-15T21:27:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:45.182Z article:section: Politics og:title: Supreme Court Protest Draws 500 Over Birthright Citizenship og:description: Standing amid a throng of fellow protesters outside the Supreme Court Thursday morning, Young Woon Han was worried about his future son or daughter. og:url: https://time.com/7285742/supreme-court-birthright-citizenship-protest/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea50190d62cb90b8/6998c6a293610c16b3c2fa19/GettyImages-2215288485.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Activists Protest At The Supreme Court Against Trump's Attempt To End Birthright Citizenship og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Supreme Court Protest Draws 500 Over Birthright Citizenship twitter:description: Standing amid a throng of fellow protesters outside the Supreme Court Thursday morning, Young Woon Han was worried about his future son or daughter. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea50190d62cb90b8/6998c6a293610c16b3c2fa19/GettyImages-2215288485.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hundreds of Protesters Outside Supreme Court Call on Justices to Protect Birthright Citizenship > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Supreme Court Hears High-Stakes Case on Birthright Citizenship and Federal Courts’ Power [Watch (HLS stream): Supreme Court Hears High-Stakes Case on Birthright Citizenship and Federal Courts’ Power](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HOuXAll2.m3u8) (3:08)  _Published 2025-05-16. The Supreme Court is hearing its first set of Trump-related arguments in the second Trump presidency. The case stems from the executive order President Donald Trump issued on his first day in office that would deny citizenship to children born on U.S. soil to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily._  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is the senior White House correspondent at TIME. May 15, 2025 9:27 PM UTC  From left, Democratic Reps. Nancy Pelosi, Pramila Jayapal and Sylvia Garcia, take part in a protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court as Justices hear a case involving birthright citizenship in Washington, DC, on May 14, 2025. From left, Democratic Reps. Nancy Pelosi, Pramila Jayapal and Sylvia Garcia, take part in a protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court as Justices hear a case involving birthright citizenship in Washington, DC, on May 14, 2025. Alex Wong—Getty Images  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is the senior White House correspondent at TIME. May 15, 2025 9:27 PM UTC Standing amid a throng of fellow protesters outside the Supreme Court Thursday morning, Young Woon Han was worried about his future son or daughter. Han was born in Korea and is a lawful permanent resident living and working in Columbus, Ohio. His wife, who was also born in Korea, is in the U.S. on a work permit. The couple has discussed having a child. The nine Justices inside the courthouse were taking up a case involving an [executive order](https://time.com/7208965/birthright-citizenship-trump-order/) from President Donald Trump creating exceptions to the Constitutional guarantee that anyone born in the U.S. is a citizen. The Administration's effort are "making us nervous, for sure, as an aspirational parent," Han says. Under Trump’s order, a child born to Han and his wife should still be allowed to become a citizen. But Han is concerned that Trump might not stop there. "We are afraid that the way things are going, some policy may not affect us now, but it is eventually going to affect all of us," Han says. Han was among about 500 people standing outside the Supreme Court Thursday morning as the Justices heard oral arguments in the divisive case. Protestors chanted "Say it loud, say it clear, immigrants are welcome here" and "Sí, se puede." At one point, the crowd sang Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." Under the order Trump [issued](https://time.com/7208965/birthright-citizenship-trump-order/) on his first day back in office, a child born to parents who lack U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residency status would no longer be allowed to become a citizen. Multiple district courts moved to temporarily block Trump’s action. The Justices on Thursday were considering the Administration’s request to limit the district court injunctions to the states within each of those court’s jurisdictions. Stepping up to a microphone in front of the courthouse’s iconic columns, Han told the crowd to imagine two babies born at the same time in two different hospitals in neighboring states. “If there’s no nationwide injunction, one baby gets US citizenship and the other doesn't. It ain’t right.” Han held a cardboard sign with the words "Know your rights" and "Wong Kim Ark" written on it. Wong Kim Ark was a Chinese American cook born in San Francisco in the 1870s. In 1896, after a trip to China, immigration officials tried to deny him entry back into the US under the Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred Chinese nationals from migrating to the US at the time. But Wong argued that the 14th Amendment protected his US citizenship because he was born in the country. The stalemate went to the Supreme Court in 1898, with the court confirming in a 6-to-2 decision that Wong was a citizen, setting a precedent that birthright citizenship in the US is universal. Multiple members of Congress addressed the crowd outside the courthouse. Rep. Delia Ramirez, a Democrat from Illinois, said the case around protecting birthright citizenship nationally is personal for her. “I am a birthright citizen. My mother and my father were undocumented when I was born. And they raised me to fight for justice, to speak truth to power and to see our shared humanity.” Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state also spoke about being one of 19 naturalized U.S. citizens who have served in Congress. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California stood with protesters in front of the steps of the court, reading aloud the text of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. The crowd cheered when the former Speaker of the House read that no state shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” Pelosi encouraged people to continue to speak up. “The outside mobilization is very, very important. 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