America's top judicial body will hear lawsuit challenging automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The US Supreme Court has decided to review a significant case that puts to the test a historic constitutional right: automatic citizenship for individuals born in the United States.
On day one in office this winter, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to end this practice, but the order was subsequently blocked by federal courts after constitutional questions were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's final judgment will ultimately uphold citizenship rights for the infants of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on temporary visas, or it will nullify those rights altogether.
Next, the judges will calendar a session to hear arguments between the federal government and the suing parties, which include parents who are immigrants and their infants.
The Legal Foundation
For more than 150 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has established the doctrine that every person born in the country is a US citizen, with specific conditions for children born to diplomats and personnel of invading forces.
"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 withhold citizenship to the children 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 – primarily in the North and South America – that provide automatic citizenship to any person born in their territory.
