America's top judicial body agrees to hear legal challenge disputing automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The nation's highest court has agreed to take on a landmark case that challenges a historic guarantee: automatic citizenship for people born in the United States.
On the inaugural day in office this winter, the administration enacted a directive aiming to halt birthright citizenship, but the action was struck down by lower courts after legal challenges were initiated.
The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will either support citizenship rights for the offspring of migrants who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end those rights completely.
Next, the judges will calendar a session to hear oral arguments between the government and the suing parties, which comprise parents who are immigrants and their young children.
The Legal Foundation
For over a century and a half, the 14th Amendment has codified the rule that every person born in the country is a US citizen, with exceptions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of invading forces.
"Every individual born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The challenged directive sought to deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States belongs to a group of about three dozen nations – primarily in the North and South America – that award immediate citizenship to all those born within their borders.
