The nation's highest court will hear lawsuit disputing automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The US Supreme Court has agreed to take on a significant case that challenges a historic principle: guaranteed citizenship for those born within US borders.
On his first day in office this winter, the President signed an order aiming to halt birthright citizenship, but the action was struck down by the judiciary after legal challenges were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's final ruling will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the offspring of migrants who are in the US without authorization or on temporary visas, or it will overturn those rights completely.
Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the administration and claimants, which comprise parents who are immigrants and their young children.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For over a century and a half, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the principle that anyone born in the country is a citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to diplomats and personnel of invading forces.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The disputed presidential order sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States is one of about 30 countries – mostly in the North and South America – that grant immediate citizenship to any person born within their borders.
