Padilla Statement on Supreme Court Upholding Birthright Citizenship

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary’s Immigration Subcommittee, issued the following statement after the Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship as a fundamental Constitutional right. “The Constitution could not be clearer: if you are born in the United States, you are a citizen of the United States. Period. No ambiguity. While there is nothing surprising about Donald Trump’s efforts to erode birthright citizenship and disregard laws he doesn’t like, today’s decision reaffirms over a century of legal precedent protecting this fundamental constitutional right. “This is personal. I am a proud son of immigrants. I was born in the United States. I am a proud citizen of the United States with freedom to pursue the American Dream. “Yet, while we celebrate this ruling today, we cannot rest. Because this is certainly not the end of Trump’s attacks on our Constitution, our democracy, and the notion of what it means to be American. As Americans, we will continue to organize, vote, legislate, and litigate because our country depends on it.” ###