America's top judicial body agrees to review case disputing citizenship by birth.
The top court has agreed to take on a significant case that challenges a historic principle: automatic citizenship for those born in the United States.
On day one in office this winter, the administration issued an executive order aiming to terminate the policy, but the action was halted by federal courts after constitutional questions were initiated.
The Supreme Court's final decision will ultimately uphold citizenship rights for the infants of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will overturn them altogether.
Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the government and plaintiffs, which comprise immigrant parents and their young children.
The 14th Amendment
For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has codified the doctrine that all individuals born in the country is a American citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to embassy personnel 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 withhold citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US without legal status or are in the country on temporary visas.
The United States is among about 30 countries – mostly in the Americas – that provide instant citizenship to anyone born on their soil.
