The nation's highest court has decided to review lawsuit questioning automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The top court has decided to review a landmark case that challenges a longstanding guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for those born on American soil.
On day one in office this winter, the administration issued an executive order aiming to halt this practice, but the move was struck down by federal courts after constitutional questions were initiated.
The Supreme Court's ultimate decision will either support citizenship rights for the children of migrants who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will end them altogether.
Next, the justices will set a time to hear the case between the administration and plaintiffs, which include immigrant parents and their newborns.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For over a century and a half, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the doctrine that every person born in the United States is a US citizen, with specific conditions for children born to foreign diplomats 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 withhold citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US without legal status or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States belongs to a group of about three dozen nations – primarily in the North and South America – that grant instant citizenship to all those born in their territory.
