The nation's highest court has decided to hear case disputing birthright citizenship.
The top court has agreed to take on a significant case that questions a historic constitutional right: automatic citizenship for people born within US borders.
On his first day in office this winter, the administration issued an executive order aiming to halt this practice, but the order was halted by federal courts after lawsuits were filed.
The Supreme Court's final judgment will ultimately uphold 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 entirely.
Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the government and the suing parties, which include parents who are immigrants and their newborns.
The Legal Foundation
For over a century and a half, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the doctrine that every person born in the country is a citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to diplomats and personnel of foreign military forces.
"Every individual born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The disputed directive sought to refuse citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States is among about a minority of states – primarily in the Americas – that grant automatic citizenship to anyone born on their soil.
