This week, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected President Trump's attempt to end birthright citizenship by executive order — and I want to take a moment to reflect on what that decision means, not just as a legal matter, but as a human one.

Nan Building One Community, nou travay chak jou ansanm ak fanmi imigran nan Stamford ak atravè Konte Fairfield. Nou wè premye men laperèz, ensètitid, ak espwa ki ansanm nan kominote nou an kounye a. Se konsa, lè Tribinal la afime ke chak timoun ki fèt sou tè Ameriken se yon sitwayen nan peyi sa a, kèlkeswa estati a nan paran yo, li te santi pwofondman pèsonèl.

The legal foundation for this ruling is the 14th Amendment, passed after the Civil War to ensure that our country would never again be divided into classes of people with unequal rights. The drafters were clear: the children of all parentage, born here, would be regarded and treated as citizens with equal civil rights. This was a direct repudiation of the Supreme Court's shameful 1857 decision in Dred Scott, which had held that Black Americans — free or enslaved — could never be citizens. The 14th Amendment was written to close that door forever, and the Court reaffirmed that principle in 1898 in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, establishing that birthright citizenship applies to all children born on U.S. soil, regardless of their parents' citizenship.

Prensip sa a te fèt semèn sa a. Si desizyon an te ale nan yon lòt fason, nou ta fè yon etap bak ki difisil pou konprann konplètman - nan direksyon yon sistèm kote timoun ki fèt nan Amerik ta ka grandi isit la, ale nan lekòl isit la, travay isit la, renmen peyi sa a, epi yo toujou di yo pa konplètman fè pati li. Se pa sa nou ye. Oswa omwen, se pa moun nou anvi ye. Mwen panse ak fanmi nou sèvi nan B1C.

I think about the children being born right now in Stamford hospitals — children who will grow up speaking English and Spanish and Portuguese and Haitian Creole and one of the 75 languages spoken in homes across our city. The City of Stamford's own data tells us that 34% of our residents are foreign-born. These are our neighbors, our coworkers, the people who build our homes, care for our elderly, teach our children, and start the businesses that keep our local economy alive. Their children are Stamford's future.

Desizyon sa a afime ke timoun sa yo pral gen menm dwa, menm pwen depa, ak menm kout fe nan rèv Ameriken an ak nenpòt timoun ki fèt isit la. Sa enpòtan anpil, pa sèlman konstitisyonèl, men pou kalite kominote nou ap bati ansanm.

Pandan n ap pwoche 250yèm anivèsè demokrasi sa a, Kou Siprèm nan fè nou sonje ke pwomès egalite nan nesans la se pa yon lide patizan. Li se yon fondasyon. Nan Building One Community, n ap kontinye fè pati pa nou, asire fanmi imigran yo gen aksè a sipò legal, resous, ak kominote yo bezwen pou yo mete rasin ak kontribiye totalman nan kote yo rele lakay yo.

Sitwayènte dwa nesans se pa yon brèch. Li se yon wòch kwen.

Marissa Munoz

Direktè Egzekitif, Building One Community