The nation's highest court has decided to consider case challenging birthright citizenship.
The nation's highest court has agreed to take on a pivotal case that questions a longstanding principle: guaranteed citizenship for those born within US borders.
On the inaugural day in office this winter, the President issued an executive order aiming to end the policy, but the action was halted by the judiciary after lawsuits were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's final ruling will ultimately support citizenship rights for the offspring of foreign nationals who are in the US undocumented or on short-term permits, or it will nullify the provision completely.
Next, the justices will calendar a session to hear arguments between the federal government and claimants, which involve foreign-born parents and their young children.
The Legal Foundation
For over a century and a half, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the doctrine that all individuals born in the country is a American citizen, with exceptions for children born to foreign diplomats and members 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 directive sought to refuse citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States belongs to a group of about a minority of states – largely in the Americas – that award immediate citizenship to anyone born on their soil.
