America's top judicial body will review lawsuit questioning birthright citizenship.
The US Supreme Court has will hear a pivotal case that challenges a historic guarantee: birthright citizenship for people born within US borders.
On his first day in office this January, the President signed an order aiming to terminate the policy, but the action was halted by federal courts after legal challenges were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's eventual decision will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the infants of migrants who are in the US undocumented or on short-term permits, or it will nullify those rights entirely.
Next, the court will calendar a session to hear the case between the administration and the suing parties, which include foreign-born parents and their young children.
The Legal Foundation
For over a century and a half, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the principle that every person born in the nation is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to diplomats and personnel of invading forces.
"All persons 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 deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States is among about a minority of states – largely in the North and South America – that grant immediate citizenship to anyone born in their territory.
