America's top judicial body agrees to hear case questioning citizenship by birth.
The top court has decided to review a landmark case that challenges a historic constitutional right: automatic citizenship for individuals born on American soil.
On his first day in office this winter, President Donald Trump enacted a directive aiming to halt birthright citizenship, but the order was subsequently blocked by lower courts after constitutional questions were filed.
The Supreme Court's final judgment will either affirm citizenship rights for the infants of foreign nationals who are in the US undocumented or on temporary visas, or it will end those rights altogether.
Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear the case between the government and claimants, which comprise immigrant parents and their infants.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For over a century and a half, the 14th Amendment has established the doctrine that all individuals born in the United States is a American citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to diplomats and personnel 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 presidential 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 short-term status.
The United States is among about three dozen nations – mostly in the North and South America – that grant instant citizenship to anyone born in their territory.
