If you are born here, you belong here.

The U.S. Supreme Court today reaffirmed that if you are born on American soil, you are an American citizen.

If you are born here, you belong here.

I sat in the U.S. Supreme Court, in the same row as President Trump, and listened to the oral arguments in this case. I felt the weighty impact that this case will have on the history of our nation. I watched Trump sit and listen to what would become an embarrassing defeat for his Administration and, more importantly, a victory for the rule of law and our Constitution.

Birthright citizenship is a foundational promise of our country and principle of our Constitution—and after our win today, it stands.

The 14th Amendment—adopted after the Civil War to ensure citizenship couldn’t be denied based on race, ancestry, or origin—is clear and has been settled constitutional law for more than 150 years.

It’s a law that has already been challenged in the Supreme Court and twice upheld.

One of those cases centered around a San Francisco-born Chinese American man named Wong Kim Ark, who successfully sued the U.S. when he was denied entry back into his own country after visiting family in China. Officials wrongly claimed he wasn’t a citizen.

In 1898, the Supreme Court took up Wong Kim Ark’s case and affirmed that children born to immigrants on American soil, like him, couldn’t be denied citizenship.

Questions about birthright citizenship have been asked and long answered. It shouldn’t still be up for debate. It’s disappointing that, because of President Trump’s total disregard for the law and Constitution, it had to be again.

Today’s decision affirms what we’ve said all along: President Trump’s day one executive order was unlawful from the outset.

No president can erase constitutional rights by executive order.

No president is above the Constitution.

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The president is not king. He cannot violate the law or rewrite it on a whim.

We’re a nation of immigrants. It’s in our DNA, especially here in California, where we’re home to more immigrants than any other state.

People like my own mom, who was born and raised in the Philippines. She came here to study, met my dad—a born and raised Californian—and got married.

My parents had me while living in the Philippines and came here when I was two months old to escape a dictator and martial law in my mom’s home country.

My mom lived here legally with a green card for many years until she became a proud U.S. citizen so she could vote for me in my first competitive election.

My incredible mom, Cynthia, and I

My story is one of millions. Each a vital thread in the tapestry of our nation’s identity.

Because our diversity is both our story and our strength.

As California Attorney General, I will always defend that belief. I will always defend the California people. And I will always defend the U.S. Constitution.

Today, we won. Tomorrow, our work continues.

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