The Supreme Court will now decide whether one of President Donald Trump's controversial executive orders is Constitutional.
The order aims to end birthright citizenship for the American born children of undocumented immigrants. Trump in his executive order wants the high court to reinterpret the guarantee of the 14th Amendment, which states in part, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside."
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WATCH HEREProtesters across the Bay Area and the U.S. rallied against the president's effort.
Meanwhile, a direct descendant of the man whose landmark case helped create the legal precedent for birthright citizenship also spoke out on Thursday.
Norman Wong's great grandfather, Wong Kim Ark, successfully defended his right to birthright citizenship and won more than a century ago.
Ark was born in Chinatown and had left the country to visit his ancestral homeland of China, only to be denied re-entry when he returned. He took his case to the highest court and won, creating legal precedent for birthright citizenship.
"I thought it was a settled issue and I though it was a nonissue for everyone I know," Wong said.
Wong said he is shocked and disappointed that birthright citizenship is once again being questioned after being the law of the land for so long.
"If we don't win this, I feel sorry, not for me, but for everyone that comes after me because I think the erosion of our rights is just going to start with this," Wong said.
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SIGN UP The president and his supporters argue birthright citizenship was created specifically for enslaved people -- not immigrants.
Trump wants to limit birthright citizenship to people who have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or is a permanent U.S resident.
"It's not the America I thought I grew up in," Wong said. "If anything about America, it is not the people that we are throwing out, but the people that want to reshape it into a country that I don't recognize."
Activists protested outside the Supreme Court on Thursday.
A lower court has already paused the president's order while the case makes it way through the courts.
"Lower courts have said what the administration is doing is blatantly unconstitutional," said Brad Joondeph, a professor of Constitutional law at Santa Clara University. "What do we do between now and when that issue gets ultimately to the Supreme Court to resolves?"
California is among 23 states that sued the Trump administration over the controversial order.
During questioning on Thursday, multiple justices appeared to raise concerns about the executive order, with lawyers for both sides offering very different views of birthright citizenship.
Ultimately, Wong hopes his great-grandfather's legacy remains a Constitutional roadmap.
"I think he was one man that stood up and made a difference," Wong said. "Imagine if we all standup how much difference that will make."
