America's top judicial body will review legal challenge disputing automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The US Supreme Court has decided to review a significant case that puts to the test a longstanding guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for people born on American soil.
On his first day in office this winter, President Donald Trump enacted a directive aiming to halt the policy, but the move was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after lawsuits were filed.
The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will either support citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify them altogether.
Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the government and plaintiffs, which comprise foreign-born parents and their newborns.
The 14th Amendment
For nearly 160 years, the Constitutional amendment has established the doctrine that every person born in the United States is a citizen, with exceptions for children born to diplomats and personnel of foreign military forces.
"All persons 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 offspring of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States is among about a minority of states – primarily in the Western Hemisphere – that provide instant citizenship to all those born in their territory.
