America's top judicial body agrees to hear legal challenge questioning automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The US Supreme Court has will hear a landmark case that questions a century-old guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for those born within US borders.
On his first day in office this January, the President enacted a directive aiming to end this practice, but the order was subsequently blocked by federal courts after lawsuits were filed.
The Supreme Court's final ruling will either uphold citizenship rights for the offspring of migrants who are in the US illegally or on temporary visas, or it will nullify them altogether.
Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear the case between the government and the suing parties, which include foreign-born parents and their infants.
The Legal Foundation
For over a century and a half, the 14th Amendment has codified the rule that anyone born in the country is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to embassy personnel 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 executive order sought to withhold citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US without legal status or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States is among about three dozen nations – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that grant automatic citizenship to anyone born within their borders.
