America's top judicial body will consider case challenging citizenship by birth.
The top court has agreed to take on a pivotal case that challenges a historic principle: guaranteed citizenship for those born on American soil.
On his first day in office this winter, the President issued an executive order aiming to end the policy, but the action was subsequently blocked by lower courts after constitutional questions were initiated.
The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will either affirm citizenship rights for the offspring of migrants who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end those rights entirely.
Next, the justices will calendar a session to hear oral arguments between the administration and plaintiffs, which involve foreign-born parents and their infants.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For nearly 160 years, the 14th Amendment has established the rule that anyone born in the United States is a US citizen, with exceptions for children born to foreign diplomats and personnel of invading forces.
"Every individual 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 offspring of people who are either in the US without legal status or are in the country on temporary visas.
The United States is among about 30 countries – primarily in the Western Hemisphere – that provide immediate citizenship to any person born on their soil.
