The nation's highest court will hear legal challenge challenging automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The US Supreme Court has agreed to take on a landmark case that questions a historic constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for people born within US borders.
On his first day in office this January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to halt the policy, but the move was struck down by the judiciary after lawsuits were filed.
The Supreme Court's eventual decision will either support citizenship rights for the children of migrants who are in the US illegally or on temporary visas, or it will end those rights completely.
Next, the court will calendar a session to hear oral arguments between the government and claimants, which include parents who are immigrants and their infants.
The Legal Foundation
For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has enshrined the rule that anyone born in the country is a citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to diplomats and members 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 directive sought to refuse citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States is among about a minority of states – mostly in the North and South America – that grant instant citizenship to any person born in their territory.
