The nation's highest court has decided to consider case disputing birthright citizenship.
The nation's highest court has will hear a significant case that questions a longstanding guarantee: birthright citizenship for individuals born in the United States.
On day one in office this January, the administration issued an executive order aiming to end the policy, but the action was subsequently blocked by federal courts after constitutional questions were filed.
The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will either support citizenship rights for the children of migrants who are in the US undocumented or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify them altogether.
Next, the justices will calendar a session to hear oral arguments between the federal government and claimants, which involve immigrant parents and their infants.
The Legal Foundation
For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the doctrine that all individuals born in the nation is a American citizen, with specific conditions for children born to foreign diplomats and members of occupying armies.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The contested directive sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US without legal status or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States is among about three dozen nations – primarily in the Americas – that grant immediate citizenship to anyone born within their borders.
