America's top judicial body has decided to hear legal challenge questioning automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The nation's highest court has agreed to take on a pivotal case that questions a longstanding constitutional right: birthright citizenship for people born within US borders.
On day one in office this January, the administration issued an executive order aiming to end this practice, but the order was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after legal challenges were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's eventual ruling will either uphold citizenship rights for the offspring of foreign nationals who are in the US without authorization or on temporary visas, or it will nullify those rights altogether.
Next, the court will set a time to hear arguments between the government and plaintiffs, which involve foreign-born parents and their young children.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has established the doctrine that every person born in the nation is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to foreign diplomats and personnel 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 challenged presidential order sought to deny 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 30 countries – primarily in the Western Hemisphere – that grant instant citizenship to any person born within their borders.
