The nation's highest court agrees to consider lawsuit challenging citizenship by birth.
The US Supreme Court has will hear a pivotal case that challenges a century-old principle: birthright citizenship for individuals born on American soil.
On the inaugural day in office this winter, the administration enacted a directive aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the action was subsequently blocked by federal courts after legal challenges were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's final ruling will either support citizenship rights for the offspring of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on temporary visas, or it will end those rights entirely.
Next, the court will calendar a session to hear arguments between the federal government and the suing parties, which include immigrant parents and their infants.
The 14th Amendment
For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has established the doctrine that every person born in the country is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to diplomats and personnel of invading forces.
"Anyone 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 deny citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States is one of about three dozen nations – primarily in the North and South America – that provide automatic citizenship to anyone born on their soil.
