The nation's highest court will hear legal challenge challenging automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The nation's highest court has decided to review a landmark case that questions a longstanding guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for those born in the United States.
On day one in office this winter, the administration enacted a directive aiming to end this practice, but the move was halted by lower courts after legal challenges were filed.
The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will ultimately support citizenship rights for the infants of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on short-term permits, or it will end those rights completely.
Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the government and plaintiffs, which comprise immigrant parents and their infants.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For nearly 160 years, the Constitutional amendment has codified the principle that every person born in the nation 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 directive sought to withhold citizenship to the children 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 among about a minority of states – largely in the Americas – that grant instant citizenship to all those born on their soil.
