The nation's highest court agrees to hear lawsuit questioning birthright citizenship.
The nation's highest court has decided to review a pivotal case that puts to the test a century-old guarantee: automatic citizenship for people born within US borders.
On day one in office this winter, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to terminate the policy, but the order was struck down by federal courts after constitutional questions were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will either uphold citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify the provision entirely.
Next, the judges will set a time to hear oral arguments between the government and the suing parties, which include parents who are immigrants and their newborns.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has enshrined the rule that anyone born in the country is a US citizen, with specific conditions for children born to embassy personnel and members of occupying armies.
"Every individual 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 deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States is one of about a minority of states – primarily in the Americas – that provide automatic citizenship to any person born in their territory.
