America's top judicial body agrees to review lawsuit questioning citizenship by birth.
The nation's highest court has decided to review a significant case that questions a century-old principle: birthright citizenship for individuals born within US borders.
On the inaugural day in office this winter, the administration signed an order aiming to end birthright citizenship, but the action was struck down by lower courts after legal challenges were filed.
The Supreme Court's eventual ruling will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the children of migrants who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will nullify those rights completely.
Next, the judges will calendar a session to hear arguments between the government and claimants, which involve parents who are immigrants and their young children.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For more than 150 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the rule that anyone born in the United States is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to foreign diplomats and personnel 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 is among about a minority of states – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that provide instant citizenship to all those born on their soil.
