California and other states are suing President Donald Trump over his executive order to end birthright citizenship. For San Francisco, it means the story of Wong Kim Ark is more relevant than ever. He was a Chinese man born in the city’s Chinatown, whose case would go on to set the precedent for who gets to be a U.S. citizen. Ark was born on the 700 block of Sacramento Street in 1870 to a Chinese woman. Norman Wong is a descendant of Ark and is also his great-grandson. “I’m glad he stood up,” he said. “A lot of people have feelings about stuff but they’re not willing to stick their neck out. He was willing to stick his neck out.” In 1898, Ark successfully defended his claim he was a U.S. citizen in the Supreme Court. Officials were denying Ark’s re-entry during a wave of anti-Asian sentiment in the country, saying his parents were Chinese nationals at the time of his birth but they were in the U.S. legally. Ark’s win reaffirmed the 14th amendment that anyone born in the U.S. is automatically a citizen. His story was thrust back into the national spotlight. The 14th amendment says that all people born or naturalized in the U.S. are citizens of the country. Anti-immigration advocates are pressing for another interpretation, saying Ark’s story isn’t the same, even though, his family was here legally. Now, a battle in the courtroom is looming because less than 24 hours after Trump signed the order, 18 states are suing to stop him. Trump signed an order to limit the right to people who have at least one parent who is a United States citizen or permanent resident. California Attorney General Rob Bonta alongside San Francisco’s city attorney announced the lawsuit on Tuesday. “He has overreached by a mile in his case and so, we’re taking him to court,” he said. “It is a fringe theory it should be rejected outright it is not the interpretation that the U.S. Supreme court has given to the citizenship clause and specifically birthright citizenship.” That couldn’t ring truer for Wong. “We’re back to square one,” Wong said. “I think the whole notion. It’s not what Trump is doing. It’s what Americans are feeling. We’re trying to blame our problems on them.”