US Supreme Court will review case disputing automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The top court has decided to review a pivotal case that challenges a historic constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for individuals born on American soil.
On day one in office this January, the administration enacted a directive aiming to terminate the policy, but the action was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after lawsuits were filed.
The Supreme Court's ultimate ruling will ultimately support citizenship rights for the infants of migrants who are in the US undocumented or on temporary visas, or it will end those rights entirely.
Next, the court will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the federal government and the suing parties, which include immigrant parents and their young children.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has enshrined the rule that anyone born in the country is a American citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to foreign diplomats and personnel of foreign military forces.
"Every individual born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The disputed presidential order sought to withhold citizenship to the children 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 three dozen nations – mostly in the Americas – that provide immediate citizenship to all those born within their borders.
