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Rising Voices Stands for Birthright Citizenship and the Constitutional Rights of All Michiganders

  • Writer: Rising Voices
    Rising Voices
  • May 15
  • 2 min read

DETROIT – As the legal challenge to President Trump’s latest executive order heads to the Supreme Court this week, Rising Voices joins Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and advocates nationwide in defending one of the most fundamental promises of our democracy: birthright citizenship.


“Asian American and immigrant communities in Michigan have long understood what’s at stake when politicians attempt to undermine our rights,” said Emily Nguyen, Political & Policy Director of Rising Voices. “The executive order attacking birthright citizenship isn’t just unconstitutional, it’s dangerous, rooted in xenophobia, and designed to exclude our communities. We will not stand by while our children’s futures are at risk because of someone’s personal agenda.”


Established by the 14th Amendment and upheld twice by the U.S. Supreme Court, including in the landmark 1898 case United States v. Wong Kim Ark, birthright citizenship guarantees that all children born on U.S. soil are citizens, regardless of their parents’ immigration status, race, or background. This principle was enshrined to correct a shameful chapter in our country’s past and must not be undone by executive order.


President Trump’s order is already facing legal scrutiny, with Attorney General Nessel and 22 total state leaders filing suit to block its implementation. As outlined in her legal challenge, the order would strip hundreds of thousands of children of their most basic rights, including access to healthcare, education, voting rights, and legal protections. It would also place undue financial and administrative burdens on states, including Michigan.


“Instead of investing in our communities and expanding access to opportunity, this administration continues to target immigrant families with cruelty and contempt,” Nguyen added. “We call on Michigan’s leaders at every level to reject this executive order and affirm the constitutional rights of all who call this country home.”


This week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear CASA v. Trump, a case that could determine whether this unlawful and discriminatory executive order will stand. The outcome will impact families across the country, including here in Michigan. Rising Voices urges the Court to uphold the Constitution and protect the citizenship rights of all children born in the U.S. We call on our communities to remain vigilant and united, because our rights, dignity, and future are on the line.


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Rising Voices, a project of the Center for Empowered Politics, is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization that seeks to increase the civic participation of Asian Americans in Michigan by developing the leadership, organizing, and power-building capacity of Asian American women, youth, and communities. risingvoicesaaf.org 

 
 
 
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Rising Voices is fiscally sponsored by the Center for Empowered Politics, a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization; Rising Voices Fund is sponsored by the Center for Empowered Politics Fund, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

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LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Rising Voices is based in stolen occupied territories called Waawiiyaataanong, named by the Anishinaabeg and includes the Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe (Chippewa), Odawa (Ottawa), and Bodewatomi (Potawatomi) peoples. We acknowledge that Asian American immigration is part of the history of settler colonialism and  that all Indigenous peoples have and continue to be forcibly removed from their homelands. Rising Voices stands in solidarity with Black and Indigenous communities who continue to be systemically excluded and oppressed through the ongoing damaging effects of settler colonialism, genocide, and myths of white supremacy.

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