The nation's highest court agrees to consider case questioning birthright citizenship.
The nation's highest court has agreed to take on a landmark case that challenges a historic principle: automatic citizenship for individuals born in the United States.
On day one in office this January, the administration issued an executive order aiming to halt this practice, but the move was halted by federal courts after constitutional questions were initiated.
The Supreme Court's eventual decision will ultimately support citizenship rights for the infants of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will overturn those rights altogether.
Next, the court will calendar a session to hear oral arguments between the federal government and the suing parties, which involve immigrant parents and their young children.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For more than 150 years, the 14th Amendment has codified the principle that every person born in the United States is a citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to foreign diplomats 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 contested executive order sought to withhold citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States is one of about three dozen nations – largely in the Western Hemisphere – that provide instant citizenship to anyone born in their territory.
