US Supreme Court will review legal challenge disputing birthright citizenship.
The top court has decided to review a significant case that puts to the test a century-old guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for people born on American soil.
On his first day in office this winter, the President signed an order aiming to terminate this practice, but the move was struck down by federal courts after lawsuits were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will either support citizenship rights for the offspring of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end them completely.
Next, the court will set a time to hear oral arguments between the government and plaintiffs, which include immigrant parents and their young children.
The Legal Foundation
For over a century and a half, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the doctrine that anyone born in the nation is a citizen, with exceptions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of foreign military forces.
"Anyone 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 withhold citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on temporary visas.
The United States is one of about a minority of states – largely in the Western Hemisphere – that grant immediate citizenship to all those born on their soil.
