June 8, 2025 • 26 mins
“I'm waiting for my baby with the greatest love in the world, but with all these problems.”
Latino USA spoke with a pregnant Venezuelan woman who is part of a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s efforts to end birthright citizenship. This month, the Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on whether Trump can deny the baby’s constitutional right. This massive shift in our constitution would change a baby’s life, and leave some stateless.
Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S., centering Latino stories and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Canting Quin trasenest momentuo tubi the SuperM Barrasamama.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Last month I spoke with a very pregnant woman. We're
gonna call her.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Monica, and.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
This is Monica's first baby. And when we spoke in May,
she was entering her third and final trimester.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Mevaldan Teresa Semana.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
So far, everything has been special, from the moment she
found out she was pregnant, after waiting for so long
to go in shopping with her husband for the babies
first one Sietero. Monica and her husband have been living
(00:52):
in the United States for about six years now. In
twenty nineteen, they fled Venezuela after receiving death threats because
of their disapproval of the government. Now they both have
TPS Temporary Protected status and they're waiting for a decision
on their asylum application. In the meantime, they've built a
(01:13):
new life in South Carolina, home of sweet iced Tea,
college football, and a Venezuelan community that is growing at
least by one. She always dreamt of being a mom.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
So loke stimo moment.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Monica is in her thirties. She took her time becoming
a parent she wanted to feel like a fully realized
version of herself. First, to reach certain milestones like finishing
medical school, having a career, feeling stable, and little by
little she got there. For now, she's enjoying her pregnancy
(01:59):
at home, taking time off from her gigwork as a driver.
So in the last moments with her pregnant belly, she's
soaking up the sunny South Carolina sky. But even though
she's living in the American South, Monica's pregnancy cravings have
leaned more towards her home country way south in South America.
(02:22):
Sonsano mango conzal, mango gonzal. I love that she's been
craving mango verde, a typical treat which is so yummy.
It's unripe, green mangos with a little salt, maybe some lemon,
maybe some chile if you're into it.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Algosi istibo, muikrioya.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Muikrioya, she says, meaning traditionally or classically Venezuelan. But the
mangos in South Carolina are never perfectly green. They're always
a little too ripe, the flesh is a little too yellow. Still,
she has learned to savor them regardless, like the Mangos.
(03:13):
Life in the US is very different, and there were
just some things she could have never expected from her
new life in South Carolina, like facing the US Supreme
Court to protect her baby's rights. I chatted with Monica
via zoom. She kept her camera off and I never
(03:36):
did get to see her face. In fact, Monica is
also not her real name. It's a pseudonym, and we're
not giving you any more details that could identify her
because she's decided to keep her identity a secret.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Amimiga barieo repeto.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
She says, I'd love to be more public about.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
This piro cia semiel aremta contramen river.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
But the fear of what could happen to my baby
is just too much, and Monica has good reason to
be fearful. Donald Trump signed an executive order ending birthright
citizenship for children born in the US without at least
one parent being a citizen or legal permanent resident someone
(04:25):
with a green card. The case is now at the
U s. Supreme Court, with a decision expected any day now,
and if the Supreme Court sides with the Trump administration,
they would give him the power to end almost one
hundred and sixty years of precedent with a single signature,
it would end birthright citizenship for babies like Monica's. Scared
(04:53):
of what her temporary status could mean for her baby,
she decided to sue. Along with or other pregnant women
seeking refuge in the United States. Monigay is fighting against
the Trump administration for her baby's right to US citizenship.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Deepointly on saying, celerito, then I said the sales. You
are honored mebe hakio, sir.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
All of this makes me really emotional, she says. The
fact that your baby won't be a citizen of the
country where they're born. And here is what makes Monica's
situation truly alarming. She's a refugee of Venezuela, and in
twenty nineteen, the Venezuelan embassy and consulate in the United
(05:42):
States permanently closed.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Venezuela's consulate is closed indefinitely after the government broke off
diplomatic relations with the United States.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
So without birthright citizenship, Monica's baby could be born without
citizenship of any kind, not from the US, and without
an embassy here, not from Venezuela. Her baby, the baby
she and her husband waited so patiently to have would
be born stateless. So as her due date gets closer
(06:18):
and closer, along with the Supreme Court ruling that's pending,
Monica waits both excited to meet her little baby, but
also terribly anxious about the future. And Monica understands very
(06:38):
well to expect the unexpected, because of course, babies don't
follow strict rules. They come when they're ready. From Futro
Media and TRX Latino Usa, I'm Mariano Rosa Today the
(07:04):
border of citizenship makes it all the way into a
mother's womb. On May fifteenth, on the steps of the
Supreme Court, protesters gathered for hours.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
And we're very glad to be out here further Supreme
Courts and say here arguments.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
The justices of the Supreme Court. We're hearing arguments on
whether the Court should lift a nationwide injunction that injunction
blocks the Trump Administration's executive order ending birthright citizenship.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
We will hear argument this morning in case twenty four
eight eighty four Trump versus Cassa Incorporated.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
And the inciting incident to all of this was set
in motion the first day of Donald Trump's second term.
This next order relates to the definition of birthright citizenship
under the fourteenth Amendment of the United States right. That's
a good one birthright. He signed an executive order ending
birthright citizenship for babies born in the United States if
(08:12):
their parents are in this country, either without documentation at
all or with some sort of temporary status like TPS.
But shortly after Donald Trump was sued and that executive
order was blocked.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
A third federal judge has blocked President Trump's executive order
to limit birthright citizenship.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Since Trump took office, more than three hundred lawsuits have
been filed to block many of his initiatives.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
A federal judge blocked a sweeping executive order if that
sought to end programs that promote diversity.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Blocked the president's executive order that targeted.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
A law firm, blocked a push by the Trump administration
for voters to show proof of citizenship.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
That that's what was discussed at the Supreme Court hearing
a couple of weeks ago. The legality of these nationwide
blocks done by district court judges, also called universal injunctions. Now,
several justices of the super majority Conservative Court, including Thomas Alito, Gorsuch,
(09:21):
and Kevanaugh, have questioned the legitimacy of these universal injunctions,
and although the Trump administration asked the justices to not
weigh in on the constitutionality of Trump's executive order, some
justices found it difficult to do that. Justice Sonya Sotomayor
(09:43):
was the first to raise the issue.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
If we're afraid that this is or even have a
thought that this is unlawful executive action, that it is
Congress who decides citizenship, not the executive. If we believe
some of us were to believe that, why should we
permit those countless others to be subject to what we
(10:12):
think is an unlawful executive action?
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Thank you, counsel. The case is submitted. By the end
of the two hour long hearing, it was not clear
where the Justice has landed, particularly on the merits, and
no decision is expected until later in June. But one
thing is clear. The human cost of the administration's proposal
(10:40):
is real. It would shift how the US Constitution has
long been understood.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
What does it mean for an infant to be stateless?
That is a question that we as Americans should not
have to be asking.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
There's more coming up on what's at stake with this
unprecedented constitutional challenge to birthright citizenship.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
People need to understand the human states behind a Supreme
Court case that seems like it's just about procedure.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Stay with us, Yes, hey, we're back. Before the break.
We met Monica, a pregnant woman who is suing the
Trump administration and its executive order to end birthright citizenship.
(11:33):
We're going to get back to her story and we're
going to hear also from Andrea Flores, an attorney at
Forward dot US who's working with the plaintiffs.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
So this lawsuit was brought by women who cannot go home,
and what would happen is if this injunction wasn't maintained
or they attempted to lift it, these women would have
stateless children.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
The last time the US debated this was in the
wake of the Civil War, when the thirteenth, fourteenth, and
fifteenth Amendments literally reconstructed the nation, and part of that
reconstruction served a revolutionary purpose, granting formally enslaved and free
black residents equal citizenship under the law, a move that
(12:23):
challenged laws which had classified black people as not citizens
but as a separate class of persons.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
It was necessary for the South to attempt to keep
the children of slaves stateless and to deny it an
access to citizenship.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
So, in order to protect the formerly enslaved, their children
and descendants, black people petitioned for their rights, and Congress
ratified the Civil Rights Act in eighteen sixty eight and
put the rule in the Constitution in the fourteenth Amendment,
saying that every one who was born in the United
States and subject to the jurisdiction of the United States
(13:04):
is therefore a citizen of the United States, and that
has been largely uncontested law until now.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
That opens up a whole host of questions our nation
has not seen in modern times. You could be living
in a country and have the inability to prove your
identification to access any public services. You are essentially unseen
and completely in the shadows of the government, and there's
no way that they can access citizenship for them from
(13:36):
the countries that they're fleeing.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
For parents like Monica, the option to go back to
Venezuela and give Venezuelan citizenship to her baby, that comes
with a great risk.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Singing Embargoselo Sulano, Venezuelana is Pliago.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
And would you want your baby to You also have
Venezuelan citizenship.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Possible Venezuelana yalla mana que metok.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Of course, she says, But she never thought she'd have
to leave the way she did, in a rush, scared
for her life, fleeing the country because of political persecution.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Geof TOOI and a complica Venezuelana.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
So it's complicated. She loves her country and she wishes
she and her baby could share that, but she can't
go back, not even if she wanted to, not with
the current government in place.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Look, lamenta lamente.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Nana, and do you want your baby to have US citizenship?
She says. Look, it's not that I want US citizenship
for my baby. It's that the baby has constitutional rights possi.
(15:24):
It's what she expects from the country that offered her
a safe haven.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
We know that there are a large number of Venezuelan
asylum seekers who cannot go home. The United States does
not have a Venezuelan embassy or consulate. It's punishing people
who are fleeing persecution. And we have to see all
the pieces together. And there is a target attack on
Venezuelan immigrants by this administration, and the Latino community broadly
(15:53):
needs to call out because all of our rights are
tied together.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
I loved being pregnant. I loved it, and I would
love to be singing you your big smile, your big belly.
But you made a decision. You did not want us
to really know that much about you because you have
to protect your safety in the United States as a
new mom as well.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Embargo esper.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
She says she hopes it's all worth it. Monica tells
me that it's because of the fact that she's fighting
for her baby's rights that she's staying in the shadows.
But she did say she would share one thing with us,
(16:51):
a picture of her belly sing Mothers love to show
off their bellies. I love that, Claris. Here in the States,
(17:16):
Monique and her husband have worked hard to do things
quote unquote the right way. So in twenty nineteen, when
they fled Venezuela, she filed an asylum claim and applied
for TPS so she could legally work and eventually validate
her medical degree. Here.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Temporary protective status is a legal status.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
That's Andrea Flores again, the lawyer from Forward dot US.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
And Venezuelans in the United States, if they entered by
a certain date, have been eligible for TPS, as we
call it.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
But TPS has also been under attack by the Trump
administration a hell lot of process. That's another set of
problems that has come with this pregnancy. Else And while
(18:14):
she understands that her status was always temporary, it's just
one more obstacle because Monicap and her husband's TPS is
set to officially expire in September. But for now, Monicap
(18:39):
still has some personal goals to fulfill, so when the
time is right, she hopes to stop working as a
driver and instead go back to being a medical doctor,
one who can perform surgery once again, where there's a
said listen to you forto surgery. Thankfully, she tells me
(19:03):
that her husband is able to cover the expenses at
home in South Carolina, so she can at least take
it easy in this last bit of her pregnancy.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Lorile la Caza.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Sometimes she tells me, you just need to focus on
the good in order to get through the bad, even
when the bad is really really bad.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
This administration is pursuing a very targeted attack on Venezuelan immigrants.
In particular, they are targeting the Venezuelan community and this
Supreme Court case does something similar.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
GOSA, the name of the organization in the suit, along
with the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project or ASAP, are the
two immigrant rights groups that are the legal force behind
Monica case. Between the two organizations, they have more than
eight hundred thousand members across all fifty states.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Just for the plaintiffs in this case to come forward
and challenge the federal government. It's very brave of them
to do so because it's not just going to impact them,
which is why once again this should stay a nationwide injunction.
It's going to impact thousands of women like them in
similar positions. So they're really being incredibly brave in this
moment and arguing for all of our fourteenth Amendment rights.
(20:32):
But you can see the climate that we're in is
a great deal a year for immigrants to come forward
and to be targeted.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
So, Monica, you are pregnant. You are a refugee with
legal status in the United States, and when the organization
ASAP contacted its members about a potential lawsuit, you raised
your hand and you said that you would participate in
this lawsuit around birthright citizenship because you're pregnant and you're
(21:12):
about to deliver a child. What made you say I'm
going with the lawsuit. I want to be a part
of that lawsuit in the United States, as you know,
she tells me. When you're pregnant, it's you and your
baby against the world. Igue So Monica tells me she
(21:41):
sees this as an opportunity to help other mothers just
like her, with a huge sense of respect for the
nation where she's made her new home. She's also going
to fight for her child because if not her, then
who else.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
I in And.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
When you're pregnant, you have so many mixed feelings, like
one moment you love everything, the next you hate everything.
Everything makes you cry, or you can't stand the smell
of something. But still, Monica told me, she continues to
get strength from her baby.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
But that's why it's brave and important and why people
need to understand the human states behind a spring court
case that seems like it's just about procedure.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
So in the meantime, Monica waits enjoin Mango ver de
Gonzal or Green Mango with Salt as long as she
can stretch this season into the fall. But she's also
got three dates in mind. June, when the Supreme court
is expected to rule on the birthright citizenship case August,
(23:11):
when her baby is due, and September, when the temporary
status that she and her husband have is set to expire.
After speaking with Monicad for about an hour, I get
the sense that she's the type of person who stands
up for herself. She's thoughtful about what she does. She
(23:33):
takes deliberate steps to make her dreams come true, like
becoming a medical doctor in Venezuela. And now that Monica
is about to step into this new stage in her life,
she also has new dreams for her baby.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Told Richo.
Speaker 5 (23:52):
Coveniente to have US citizenship, to be happy, safe and
to be out of the shadows, to not be scared.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Look at me, and I said, and livertail.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Because Monica tells me we live in a country where
we should have freedom. So I long for my baby
to have freedom. And then of course, she says, must
be Sanito has to be healthy too. This episode was
(24:56):
produced by Monica Morales Garcia. It was edited by I
Are Managing Editor Fernanda Chiavari. It was mixed by Stephanie Lebau.
Fact checking for this episode by Roxana Aguire. The Latino USA.
Team also includes Julia Caruso, Jessica Ellis, Victoria Estrada, Dominique Inestrosa,
(25:17):
Renaldo le As Junior, Andre Lopez Cruzado, Luis Luna, Marta Martinez, Jjkrubin,
Dascha Sandoval, Nur Saudi and Nancy Trucquillo, Benilee Ramirez, Maria
Garcia and I are co executive producers and I'm your host,
Mariao Josa. Remember to give us a follow, give us
a like, subscribe to Latino USA. Also become a member
(25:40):
of Futuro plus because where else can you hear this
kind of reporting? And as always, donte maa yes cho.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
Latino USA is made possible in part by the Annie
Casey Foundation, creates a brighter future for the nation's children
by strengthening failslies, building greater economic opportunity, and transforming communities.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
The Ford Foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines
of social change worldwide, and the John D.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
And Catherine T.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
MacArthur Foundation,
Canting Quin trasenest momentuo tubi the SuperM Barrasamama.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Last month I spoke with a very pregnant woman. We're
gonna call her.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Monica, and.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
This is Monica's first baby. And when we spoke in May,
she was entering her third and final trimester.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Mevaldan Teresa Semana.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
So far, everything has been special, from the moment she
found out she was pregnant, after waiting for so long
to go in shopping with her husband for the babies
first one Sietero. Monica and her husband have been living
(00:52):
in the United States for about six years now. In
twenty nineteen, they fled Venezuela after receiving death threats because
of their disapproval of the government. Now they both have
TPS Temporary Protected status and they're waiting for a decision
on their asylum application. In the meantime, they've built a
(01:13):
new life in South Carolina, home of sweet iced Tea,
college football, and a Venezuelan community that is growing at
least by one. She always dreamt of being a mom.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
So loke stimo moment.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Monica is in her thirties. She took her time becoming
a parent she wanted to feel like a fully realized
version of herself. First, to reach certain milestones like finishing
medical school, having a career, feeling stable, and little by
little she got there. For now, she's enjoying her pregnancy
(01:59):
at home, taking time off from her gigwork as a driver.
So in the last moments with her pregnant belly, she's
soaking up the sunny South Carolina sky. But even though
she's living in the American South, Monica's pregnancy cravings have
leaned more towards her home country way south in South America.
(02:22):
Sonsano mango conzal, mango gonzal. I love that she's been
craving mango verde, a typical treat which is so yummy.
It's unripe, green mangos with a little salt, maybe some lemon,
maybe some chile if you're into it.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Algosi istibo, muikrioya.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Muikrioya, she says, meaning traditionally or classically Venezuelan. But the
mangos in South Carolina are never perfectly green. They're always
a little too ripe, the flesh is a little too yellow. Still,
she has learned to savor them regardless, like the Mangos.
(03:13):
Life in the US is very different, and there were
just some things she could have never expected from her
new life in South Carolina, like facing the US Supreme
Court to protect her baby's rights. I chatted with Monica
via zoom. She kept her camera off and I never
(03:36):
did get to see her face. In fact, Monica is
also not her real name. It's a pseudonym, and we're
not giving you any more details that could identify her
because she's decided to keep her identity a secret.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Amimiga barieo repeto.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
She says, I'd love to be more public about.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
This piro cia semiel aremta contramen river.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
But the fear of what could happen to my baby
is just too much, and Monica has good reason to
be fearful. Donald Trump signed an executive order ending birthright
citizenship for children born in the US without at least
one parent being a citizen or legal permanent resident someone
(04:25):
with a green card. The case is now at the
U s. Supreme Court, with a decision expected any day now,
and if the Supreme Court sides with the Trump administration,
they would give him the power to end almost one
hundred and sixty years of precedent with a single signature,
it would end birthright citizenship for babies like Monica's. Scared
(04:53):
of what her temporary status could mean for her baby,
she decided to sue. Along with or other pregnant women
seeking refuge in the United States. Monigay is fighting against
the Trump administration for her baby's right to US citizenship.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Deepointly on saying, celerito, then I said the sales. You
are honored mebe hakio, sir.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
All of this makes me really emotional, she says. The
fact that your baby won't be a citizen of the
country where they're born. And here is what makes Monica's
situation truly alarming. She's a refugee of Venezuela, and in
twenty nineteen, the Venezuelan embassy and consulate in the United
(05:42):
States permanently closed.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Venezuela's consulate is closed indefinitely after the government broke off
diplomatic relations with the United States.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
So without birthright citizenship, Monica's baby could be born without
citizenship of any kind, not from the US, and without
an embassy here, not from Venezuela. Her baby, the baby
she and her husband waited so patiently to have would
be born stateless. So as her due date gets closer
(06:18):
and closer, along with the Supreme Court ruling that's pending,
Monica waits both excited to meet her little baby, but
also terribly anxious about the future. And Monica understands very
(06:38):
well to expect the unexpected, because of course, babies don't
follow strict rules. They come when they're ready. From Futro
Media and TRX Latino Usa, I'm Mariano Rosa Today the
(07:04):
border of citizenship makes it all the way into a
mother's womb. On May fifteenth, on the steps of the
Supreme Court, protesters gathered for hours.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
And we're very glad to be out here further Supreme
Courts and say here arguments.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
The justices of the Supreme Court. We're hearing arguments on
whether the Court should lift a nationwide injunction that injunction
blocks the Trump Administration's executive order ending birthright citizenship.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
We will hear argument this morning in case twenty four
eight eighty four Trump versus Cassa Incorporated.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
And the inciting incident to all of this was set
in motion the first day of Donald Trump's second term.
This next order relates to the definition of birthright citizenship
under the fourteenth Amendment of the United States right. That's
a good one birthright. He signed an executive order ending
birthright citizenship for babies born in the United States if
(08:12):
their parents are in this country, either without documentation at
all or with some sort of temporary status like TPS.
But shortly after Donald Trump was sued and that executive
order was blocked.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
A third federal judge has blocked President Trump's executive order
to limit birthright citizenship.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Since Trump took office, more than three hundred lawsuits have
been filed to block many of his initiatives.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
A federal judge blocked a sweeping executive order if that
sought to end programs that promote diversity.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Blocked the president's executive order that targeted.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
A law firm, blocked a push by the Trump administration
for voters to show proof of citizenship.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
That that's what was discussed at the Supreme Court hearing
a couple of weeks ago. The legality of these nationwide
blocks done by district court judges, also called universal injunctions. Now,
several justices of the super majority Conservative Court, including Thomas Alito, Gorsuch,
(09:21):
and Kevanaugh, have questioned the legitimacy of these universal injunctions,
and although the Trump administration asked the justices to not
weigh in on the constitutionality of Trump's executive order, some
justices found it difficult to do that. Justice Sonya Sotomayor
(09:43):
was the first to raise the issue.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
If we're afraid that this is or even have a
thought that this is unlawful executive action, that it is
Congress who decides citizenship, not the executive. If we believe
some of us were to believe that, why should we
permit those countless others to be subject to what we
(10:12):
think is an unlawful executive action?
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Thank you, counsel. The case is submitted. By the end
of the two hour long hearing, it was not clear
where the Justice has landed, particularly on the merits, and
no decision is expected until later in June. But one
thing is clear. The human cost of the administration's proposal
(10:40):
is real. It would shift how the US Constitution has
long been understood.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
What does it mean for an infant to be stateless?
That is a question that we as Americans should not
have to be asking.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
There's more coming up on what's at stake with this
unprecedented constitutional challenge to birthright citizenship.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
People need to understand the human states behind a Supreme
Court case that seems like it's just about procedure.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Stay with us, Yes, hey, we're back. Before the break.
We met Monica, a pregnant woman who is suing the
Trump administration and its executive order to end birthright citizenship.
(11:33):
We're going to get back to her story and we're
going to hear also from Andrea Flores, an attorney at
Forward dot US who's working with the plaintiffs.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
So this lawsuit was brought by women who cannot go home,
and what would happen is if this injunction wasn't maintained
or they attempted to lift it, these women would have
stateless children.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
The last time the US debated this was in the
wake of the Civil War, when the thirteenth, fourteenth, and
fifteenth Amendments literally reconstructed the nation, and part of that
reconstruction served a revolutionary purpose, granting formally enslaved and free
black residents equal citizenship under the law, a move that
(12:23):
challenged laws which had classified black people as not citizens
but as a separate class of persons.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
It was necessary for the South to attempt to keep
the children of slaves stateless and to deny it an
access to citizenship.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
So, in order to protect the formerly enslaved, their children
and descendants, black people petitioned for their rights, and Congress
ratified the Civil Rights Act in eighteen sixty eight and
put the rule in the Constitution in the fourteenth Amendment,
saying that every one who was born in the United
States and subject to the jurisdiction of the United States
(13:04):
is therefore a citizen of the United States, and that
has been largely uncontested law until now.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
That opens up a whole host of questions our nation
has not seen in modern times. You could be living
in a country and have the inability to prove your
identification to access any public services. You are essentially unseen
and completely in the shadows of the government, and there's
no way that they can access citizenship for them from
(13:36):
the countries that they're fleeing.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
For parents like Monica, the option to go back to
Venezuela and give Venezuelan citizenship to her baby, that comes
with a great risk.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Singing Embargoselo Sulano, Venezuelana is Pliago.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
And would you want your baby to You also have
Venezuelan citizenship.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Possible Venezuelana yalla mana que metok.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Of course, she says, But she never thought she'd have
to leave the way she did, in a rush, scared
for her life, fleeing the country because of political persecution.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Geof TOOI and a complica Venezuelana.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
So it's complicated. She loves her country and she wishes
she and her baby could share that, but she can't
go back, not even if she wanted to, not with
the current government in place.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Look, lamenta lamente.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Nana, and do you want your baby to have US citizenship?
She says. Look, it's not that I want US citizenship
for my baby. It's that the baby has constitutional rights possi.
(15:24):
It's what she expects from the country that offered her
a safe haven.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
We know that there are a large number of Venezuelan
asylum seekers who cannot go home. The United States does
not have a Venezuelan embassy or consulate. It's punishing people
who are fleeing persecution. And we have to see all
the pieces together. And there is a target attack on
Venezuelan immigrants by this administration, and the Latino community broadly
(15:53):
needs to call out because all of our rights are
tied together.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
I loved being pregnant. I loved it, and I would
love to be singing you your big smile, your big belly.
But you made a decision. You did not want us
to really know that much about you because you have
to protect your safety in the United States as a
new mom as well.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Embargo esper.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
She says she hopes it's all worth it. Monica tells
me that it's because of the fact that she's fighting
for her baby's rights that she's staying in the shadows.
But she did say she would share one thing with us,
(16:51):
a picture of her belly sing Mothers love to show
off their bellies. I love that, Claris. Here in the States,
(17:16):
Monique and her husband have worked hard to do things
quote unquote the right way. So in twenty nineteen, when
they fled Venezuela, she filed an asylum claim and applied
for TPS so she could legally work and eventually validate
her medical degree. Here.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Temporary protective status is a legal status.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
That's Andrea Flores again, the lawyer from Forward dot US.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
And Venezuelans in the United States, if they entered by
a certain date, have been eligible for TPS, as we
call it.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
But TPS has also been under attack by the Trump
administration a hell lot of process. That's another set of
problems that has come with this pregnancy. Else And while
(18:14):
she understands that her status was always temporary, it's just
one more obstacle because Monicap and her husband's TPS is
set to officially expire in September. But for now, Monicap
(18:39):
still has some personal goals to fulfill, so when the
time is right, she hopes to stop working as a
driver and instead go back to being a medical doctor,
one who can perform surgery once again, where there's a
said listen to you forto surgery. Thankfully, she tells me
(19:03):
that her husband is able to cover the expenses at
home in South Carolina, so she can at least take
it easy in this last bit of her pregnancy.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Lorile la Caza.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Sometimes she tells me, you just need to focus on
the good in order to get through the bad, even
when the bad is really really bad.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
This administration is pursuing a very targeted attack on Venezuelan immigrants.
In particular, they are targeting the Venezuelan community and this
Supreme Court case does something similar.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
GOSA, the name of the organization in the suit, along
with the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project or ASAP, are the
two immigrant rights groups that are the legal force behind
Monica case. Between the two organizations, they have more than
eight hundred thousand members across all fifty states.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Just for the plaintiffs in this case to come forward
and challenge the federal government. It's very brave of them
to do so because it's not just going to impact them,
which is why once again this should stay a nationwide injunction.
It's going to impact thousands of women like them in
similar positions. So they're really being incredibly brave in this
moment and arguing for all of our fourteenth Amendment rights.
(20:32):
But you can see the climate that we're in is
a great deal a year for immigrants to come forward
and to be targeted.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
So, Monica, you are pregnant. You are a refugee with
legal status in the United States, and when the organization
ASAP contacted its members about a potential lawsuit, you raised
your hand and you said that you would participate in
this lawsuit around birthright citizenship because you're pregnant and you're
(21:12):
about to deliver a child. What made you say I'm
going with the lawsuit. I want to be a part
of that lawsuit in the United States, as you know,
she tells me. When you're pregnant, it's you and your
baby against the world. Igue So Monica tells me she
(21:41):
sees this as an opportunity to help other mothers just
like her, with a huge sense of respect for the
nation where she's made her new home. She's also going
to fight for her child because if not her, then
who else.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
I in And.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
When you're pregnant, you have so many mixed feelings, like
one moment you love everything, the next you hate everything.
Everything makes you cry, or you can't stand the smell
of something. But still, Monica told me, she continues to
get strength from her baby.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
But that's why it's brave and important and why people
need to understand the human states behind a spring court
case that seems like it's just about procedure.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
So in the meantime, Monica waits enjoin Mango ver de
Gonzal or Green Mango with Salt as long as she
can stretch this season into the fall. But she's also
got three dates in mind. June, when the Supreme court
is expected to rule on the birthright citizenship case August,
(23:11):
when her baby is due, and September, when the temporary
status that she and her husband have is set to expire.
After speaking with Monicad for about an hour, I get
the sense that she's the type of person who stands
up for herself. She's thoughtful about what she does. She
(23:33):
takes deliberate steps to make her dreams come true, like
becoming a medical doctor in Venezuela. And now that Monica
is about to step into this new stage in her life,
she also has new dreams for her baby.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Told Richo.
Speaker 5 (23:52):
Coveniente to have US citizenship, to be happy, safe and
to be out of the shadows, to not be scared.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Look at me, and I said, and livertail.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Because Monica tells me we live in a country where
we should have freedom. So I long for my baby
to have freedom. And then of course, she says, must
be Sanito has to be healthy too. This episode was
(24:56):
produced by Monica Morales Garcia. It was edited by I
Are Managing Editor Fernanda Chiavari. It was mixed by Stephanie Lebau.
Fact checking for this episode by Roxana Aguire. The Latino USA.
Team also includes Julia Caruso, Jessica Ellis, Victoria Estrada, Dominique Inestrosa,
(25:17):
Renaldo le As Junior, Andre Lopez Cruzado, Luis Luna, Marta Martinez, Jjkrubin,
Dascha Sandoval, Nur Saudi and Nancy Trucquillo, Benilee Ramirez, Maria
Garcia and I are co executive producers and I'm your host,
Mariao Josa. Remember to give us a follow, give us
a like, subscribe to Latino USA. Also become a member
(25:40):
of Futuro plus because where else can you hear this
kind of reporting? And as always, donte maa yes cho.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
Latino USA is made possible in part by the Annie
Casey Foundation, creates a brighter future for the nation's children
by strengthening failslies, building greater economic opportunity, and transforming communities.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
The Ford Foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines
of social change worldwide, and the John D.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
And Catherine T.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
MacArthur Foundation,
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