The nation's highest court agrees to hear legal challenge challenging birthright citizenship.
The top court has agreed to take on a significant case that puts to the test a century-old guarantee: automatic citizenship for those born in the United States.
On his first day in office this winter, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to end birthright citizenship, but the action was halted by the judiciary after legal challenges were initiated.
The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will either support citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will end them completely.
Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear the case between the government and claimants, which comprise parents who are immigrants and their young children.
The 14th Amendment
For over a century and a half, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the doctrine that every person born in the United States is a American citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to diplomats and personnel of foreign military forces.
"Every individual born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The challenged executive order sought to refuse citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US without legal status or are in the country on temporary visas.
The United States is one of about 30 countries – largely in the North and South America – that provide immediate citizenship to anyone born on their soil.
