The nation's highest court agrees to review case questioning automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The top court has agreed to take on a landmark case that questions a century-old constitutional right: birthright citizenship for those born in the United States.
On day one in office this January, President Donald Trump signed an order aiming to halt this practice, but the action was halted by the judiciary after legal challenges were filed.
The Supreme Court's eventual decision will either support citizenship rights for the children of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify them altogether.
Next, the judges will calendar a session to hear arguments between the federal government and the suing parties, which comprise foreign-born parents and their young children.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For nearly 160 years, the 14th Amendment has codified the rule that all individuals born in the country is a citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to embassy personnel and members of foreign military forces.
"Anyone born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The contested directive 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 belongs to a group of about three dozen nations – primarily in the Western Hemisphere – that award immediate citizenship to all those born on their soil.
