America's top judicial body has decided to review lawsuit questioning automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The nation's highest court has will hear a pivotal case that questions a century-old guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for individuals born within US borders.
On the inaugural day in office this January, the President issued an executive order aiming to end the policy, but the action was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after lawsuits were initiated.
The Supreme Court's ultimate ruling will either affirm citizenship rights for the children of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will overturn them entirely.
Next, the court will calendar a session to hear the case between the government and plaintiffs, which involve foreign-born parents and their newborns.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For more than 150 years, the 14th Amendment has established the rule that anyone born in the country is a citizen, with exceptions for children born to diplomats and personnel 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 presidential order sought to refuse citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States is one of about three dozen nations – largely in the North and South America – that grant automatic citizenship to all those born on their soil.
