America's top judicial body agrees to consider legal challenge disputing automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The US Supreme Court has decided to review a pivotal case that puts to the test a historic constitutional right: automatic citizenship for people born on American soil.
On the inaugural day in office this January, President Donald Trump signed an order aiming to end this practice, but the order was subsequently blocked by lower courts after legal challenges were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will ultimately support citizenship rights for the children of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on temporary visas, or it will nullify them completely.
Next, the court will set a time to hear arguments between the administration and claimants, which involve foreign-born parents and their newborns.
The Legal Foundation
For nearly 160 years, the 14th Amendment has codified the rule that all individuals born in the country is a US citizen, with exceptions for children born to foreign diplomats and personnel of occupying armies.
"Every individual born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The challenged directive 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 is one of about three dozen nations – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that provide instant citizenship to all those born within their borders.
