America's top judicial body has decided to consider case disputing automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The top court has agreed to take on a landmark case that puts to the test a century-old constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for people born within US borders.
On the inaugural day in office this winter, the President issued an executive order aiming to terminate this practice, but the order was halted by lower courts after constitutional questions were filed.
The Supreme Court's final decision will either support citizenship rights for the infants of migrants who are in the US without authorization or on temporary visas, or it will overturn them entirely.
Next, the court will set a time to hear the case between the federal government and the suing parties, which involve foreign-born parents and their infants.
The 14th Amendment
For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has codified the doctrine that every person born in the nation is a American citizen, with specific conditions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of invading forces.
"Anyone born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The disputed executive order sought to refuse citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States belongs to a group of about three dozen nations – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that award automatic citizenship to all those born on their soil.
