The nation's highest court agrees to consider case challenging automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The nation's highest court has agreed to take on a significant case that challenges a historic guarantee: automatic citizenship for individuals born on American soil.
On day one in office this January, the administration issued an executive order aiming to halt birthright citizenship, but the order was subsequently blocked by lower courts after legal challenges were initiated.
The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will ultimately support citizenship rights for the infants of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will overturn them entirely.
Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear the case between the administration and plaintiffs, which comprise foreign-born parents and their young children.
The Legal Foundation
For over a century and a half, the 14th Amendment has enshrined the principle that every person born in the United States is a American citizen, with specific conditions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of foreign military forces.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The disputed presidential order sought to refuse citizenship to the children 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 – largely in the Western Hemisphere – that provide instant citizenship to anyone born in their territory.
