America's top judicial body agrees to hear legal challenge questioning citizenship by birth.
The nation's highest court has decided to review a pivotal case that questions a century-old guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for individuals born in the United States.
On his first day in office this January, the administration issued an executive order aiming to terminate this practice, but the order was halted by federal courts after legal challenges were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's final decision will ultimately support citizenship rights for the infants of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will overturn them entirely.
Next, the court will set a time to hear the case between the federal government and the suing parties, which include immigrant parents and their newborns.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For over a century and a half, the Constitutional amendment has codified the rule that anyone born in the country is a American citizen, with exceptions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of foreign military forces.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The contested executive order sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on temporary visas.
The United States is among about 30 countries – primarily in the Americas – that award immediate citizenship to all those born within their borders.
