The nation's highest court agrees to consider lawsuit disputing birthright citizenship.
The top court has will hear a landmark case that puts to the test a longstanding constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for people born within US borders.
On his first day in office this January, the President signed an order aiming to terminate this practice, but the order was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after lawsuits were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's eventual ruling will either support citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on short-term permits, or it will overturn those rights completely.
Next, the court will set a time to hear oral arguments between the administration and plaintiffs, which involve immigrant parents and their newborns.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For nearly 160 years, the 14th Amendment has codified the rule that all individuals born in the United States is a US citizen, with certain exclusions 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 presidential order sought to withhold citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States belongs to a group of about a minority of states – mostly in the North and South America – that provide automatic citizenship to any person born within their borders.
