US Supreme Court will hear legal challenge disputing automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The US Supreme Court has agreed to take on a pivotal case that puts to the test a longstanding guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for individuals born on American soil.
On the inaugural day in office this January, the administration signed an order aiming to halt birthright citizenship, but the order was subsequently blocked by lower courts after legal challenges were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will ultimately uphold citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on temporary visas, or it will overturn those rights entirely.
Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear the case between the federal government and plaintiffs, which comprise foreign-born parents and their young children.
The 14th Amendment
For more than 150 years, the 14th Amendment has established the principle that anyone born in the nation is a citizen, with exceptions for children born to foreign diplomats and personnel of foreign military 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 refuse 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 Western Hemisphere – that award instant citizenship to anyone born on their soil.
