America's top judicial body agrees to review case disputing birthright citizenship.
The US Supreme Court has agreed to take on a landmark case that puts to the test a century-old guarantee: birthright citizenship for people born in the United States.
On his first day in office this January, the President issued an executive order aiming to terminate this practice, but the action was subsequently blocked by federal courts after lawsuits were filed.
The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will either support citizenship rights for the infants of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on temporary visas, or it will end them completely.
Next, the court will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the government and the suing parties, which include immigrant parents and their newborns.
The Legal Foundation
For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has established the principle that every person born in the country is a US citizen, with specific conditions for children born to foreign diplomats and members of occupying armies.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The contested directive sought to withhold citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States belongs to a group of about a minority of states – largely in the North and South America – that provide instant citizenship to all those born within their borders.
