The nation's highest court has decided to review legal challenge challenging birthright citizenship.
The US Supreme Court has agreed to take on a significant case that challenges a longstanding principle: guaranteed citizenship for those born on American soil.
On day one in office this January, President Donald Trump enacted a directive aiming to end this practice, but the order was halted by lower courts after legal challenges were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will either affirm citizenship rights for the children of foreign nationals who are in the US without authorization or on short-term permits, or it will overturn the provision entirely.
Next, the judges will set a time to hear oral arguments between the government and claimants, which comprise foreign-born parents and their infants.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For more than 150 years, the 14th Amendment has enshrined the principle that all individuals born in the nation is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to foreign diplomats and personnel of invading forces.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The challenged executive 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 non-permanent visas.
The United States belongs to a group of about 30 countries – largely in the Western Hemisphere – that provide automatic citizenship to anyone born within their borders.
