US Supreme Court agrees to review legal challenge disputing automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The top court has will hear a significant case that questions a historic guarantee: birthright citizenship for those born in the United States.
On day one in office this winter, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to end birthright citizenship, but the order was subsequently blocked by federal courts after legal challenges were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's eventual decision will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the children of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will overturn those rights entirely.
Next, the court will set a time to hear oral arguments between the government and plaintiffs, which include foreign-born parents and their infants.
The Legal Foundation
For over a century and a half, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the rule that every person born in the nation is a citizen, with specific conditions for children born to foreign diplomats 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 challenged executive order sought to withhold citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US without legal status or are in the country on temporary visas.
The United States is one of about three dozen nations – primarily in the Americas – that grant immediate citizenship to anyone born in their territory.
