“We will continue to stand with our communities and fight against any effort to erode our rights.”

Los Angeles, CA -  The Central American Resource Center of Los Angeles (CARECEN-LA) issued the following statement in response to the Supreme Court oral arguments regarding the Trump administration’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants and temporary residents.

“The right to citizenship for those born in the United States is a constitutional guarantee,” said CARECEN Legal Director Julie Mitchell. “Even the president does not have the authority to change the Constitution through executive action.”

The case centers on an executive order that attempts to reinterpret longstanding constitutional protections by excluding certain U.S.-born children from automatic citizenship based on their parents’ immigration status, a move that directly contradicts established Supreme Court precedent, including the landmark 1898 decision affirming birthright citizenship.

“This is not just a legal debate; it is about the future of our communities and the fundamental promise of equality under the law,” said Martha Arevalo, Executive Director of CARECEN. “Birthright citizenship is a cornerstone of our democracy. Any attempt to take that away threatens to create a permanent underclass and undermines the very values this country stands for. Our families deserve certainty, dignity, and the full protection of the Constitution.”

If upheld, the administration’s position could have far-reaching consequences, affecting not only future generations but potentially calling into question the citizenship status of millions of individuals. Including the potential for widespread harm, like the risk of rendering children stateless or stripping citizenship from millions of Americans.

CARECEN reaffirms its commitment to defending immigrant communities and ensuring that constitutional rights are protected for all people, regardless of immigration status.

“We will continue to stand with our communities and fight against any effort to erode our rights,” Arevalo added. “The Constitution is clear, and we will not allow it to be rewritten at the expense of our families.”

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CARECEN, the largest Central American immigrant rights organization in the country, empowers Central Americans and all immigrants by defending human and civil rights, working for social and economic justice, and promoting cultural diversity. We envision Los Angeles becoming a place where Central Americans and all other communities live in peace and dignity, enjoying economic well-being, social justice, and political empowerment. Since its founding in 1983, when thousands of Central Americans fled the brutality of civil war, CARECEN has been working to change an unjust immigration system, win legal status for immigrants, and foster community activism on issues such as education reform, workers’ and immigrants’ rights, economic justice, and community strengthening.