America's top judicial body will review case challenging automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The top court has decided to review a significant case that challenges a historic principle: guaranteed citizenship for those born within US borders.
On day one in office this winter, the administration signed an order aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the move was subsequently blocked by federal courts after legal challenges were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's final ruling will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the infants of immigrants who are in the US undocumented or on temporary visas, or it will overturn 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 more than 150 years, the 14th Amendment has codified the doctrine that all individuals born in the nation is a American citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of foreign military forces.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The contested presidential order sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on temporary visas.
The United States belongs to a group of about 30 countries – mostly in the North and South America – that award instant citizenship to any person born within their borders.
