America's top judicial body will consider legal challenge disputing citizenship by birth.
The US Supreme Court has decided to review a significant case that questions a longstanding principle: automatic citizenship for individuals born on American soil.
On his first day in office this January, President Donald Trump signed an order aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the order was halted by lower courts after legal challenges were initiated.
The Supreme Court's ultimate decision will ultimately support citizenship rights for the offspring of migrants who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify them entirely.
Next, the court will set a time to hear the case between the government and claimants, which involve parents who are immigrants and their infants.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For over a century and a half, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the rule that every person born in the nation is a American citizen, with specific conditions 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 challenged presidential order sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US without legal status or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States is one of about 30 countries – largely in the North and South America – that grant immediate citizenship to any person born on their soil.
