America's top judicial body has decided to review case challenging automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The US Supreme Court has will hear a landmark case that questions a historic guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for those born on American soil.
On his first day in office this winter, President Donald Trump signed an order aiming to halt birthright citizenship, but the order was halted by federal courts after legal challenges were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will ultimately support citizenship rights for the infants of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on temporary visas, or it will overturn those rights entirely.
Next, the court will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the administration and plaintiffs, which involve parents who are immigrants and their newborns.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For nearly 160 years, the Constitutional amendment has codified the principle that all individuals born in the United States is a citizen, with specific conditions 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 presidential order sought to deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States is one of about three dozen nations – primarily in the Western Hemisphere – that award instant citizenship to anyone born on their soil.
