The nation's highest court agrees to hear case challenging citizenship by birth.
The nation's highest court has will hear a landmark case that challenges a century-old constitutional right: automatic citizenship for individuals born in the United States.
On day one in office this winter, President Donald Trump enacted a directive aiming to halt this practice, 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 children of migrants who are in the US illegally or on temporary visas, or it will nullify them altogether.
Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear the case between the government and the suing parties, which comprise immigrant parents and their young children.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For over a century and a half, the 14th Amendment has established the doctrine that every person born in the nation 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 challenged presidential order sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US without legal status or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States is among about three dozen nations – primarily in the Western Hemisphere – that grant automatic citizenship to any person born within their borders.
