America's top judicial body agrees to hear lawsuit questioning birthright citizenship.
The nation's highest court has agreed to take on a landmark case that challenges a century-old guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for people born in the United States.
On the inaugural day in office this winter, the President issued an executive order aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the order was halted by federal courts after constitutional questions were initiated.
The Supreme Court's ultimate decision will either uphold citizenship rights for the children of foreign nationals who are in the US undocumented or on temporary visas, or it will nullify them altogether.
Next, the justices will calendar a session to hear arguments between the administration and the suing parties, which comprise foreign-born parents and their newborns.
The 14th Amendment
For over a century and a half, the 14th Amendment has enshrined the principle that all individuals born in the country is a American citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to diplomats and members of occupying armies.
"Anyone born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The contested directive sought to refuse citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US without legal status or are in the country on temporary visas.
The United States belongs to a group of about a minority of states – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that award automatic citizenship to any person born on their soil.
