The nation's highest court agrees to review lawsuit questioning citizenship by birth.
The top court has decided to review a pivotal case that challenges a century-old constitutional right: automatic citizenship for people born in the United States.
On his first day in office this January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to end the policy, but the move was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after constitutional questions were initiated.
The Supreme Court's final decision will ultimately support citizenship rights for the children of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on temporary visas, or it will nullify those rights completely.
Next, the court will set a time to hear arguments between the federal government and plaintiffs, which comprise immigrant parents and their young children.
The Legal Foundation
For nearly 160 years, the Constitutional amendment has codified the rule that every person born in the country is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to 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 challenged presidential order sought to withhold citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US without legal status or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States is one of about 30 countries – primarily in the Western Hemisphere – that provide immediate citizenship to all those born within their borders.
