America's top judicial body agrees to hear lawsuit disputing automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The US Supreme Court has decided to review a landmark case that challenges a century-old guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for people born on American soil.
On the inaugural day in office this winter, the administration enacted a directive aiming to terminate this practice, but the order was halted by federal courts after lawsuits were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will either affirm citizenship rights for the offspring of migrants who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end the provision entirely.
Next, the judges will calendar a session to hear the case between the federal government and claimants, which involve parents who are immigrants and their infants.
The 14th Amendment
For over a century and a half, the Fourteenth Amendment has enshrined the principle that every person born in the country is a American citizen, with specific conditions for children born to 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 whether in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States is one of about three dozen nations – mostly in the Americas – that award automatic citizenship to anyone born within their borders.
