America's top judicial body agrees to review legal challenge questioning automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The nation's highest court has decided to review a significant case that puts to the test a longstanding guarantee: birthright citizenship for people born within US borders.
On day one in office this winter, President Donald Trump enacted a directive aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the action was subsequently blocked by federal courts after constitutional questions were filed.
The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will ultimately uphold citizenship rights for the infants of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will overturn them altogether.
Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear arguments between the federal government and plaintiffs, which include immigrant parents and their young children.
The Legal Foundation
For more than 150 years, the 14th Amendment has enshrined the principle that anyone born in the nation is a citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to diplomats and members 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 contested directive sought to refuse citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States is among about a minority of states – largely in the North and South America – that provide immediate citizenship to any person born on their soil.
