America's top judicial body agrees to hear legal challenge challenging citizenship by birth.
The nation's highest court has agreed to take on a significant case that puts to the test a longstanding guarantee: birthright citizenship for people born in the United States.
On his first day in office this winter, the President enacted a directive aiming to terminate this practice, but the order was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after lawsuits were initiated.
The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will either uphold citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on short-term permits, or it will end the provision altogether.
Next, the court will calendar a session to hear oral arguments between the government and plaintiffs, which include immigrant parents and their newborns.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For more than 150 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has established the doctrine that all individuals born in the nation is a American citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to embassy personnel and members of occupying armies.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The challenged presidential order sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States is among about 30 countries – largely in the North and South America – that grant instant citizenship to any person born in their territory.
