US Supreme Court agrees to hear lawsuit 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: birthright citizenship for people born on American soil.
On his first day in office this January, the administration issued an executive order aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the order was halted by the judiciary after constitutional questions were initiated.
The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the children of migrants who are in the US undocumented or on short-term permits, or it will overturn those rights completely.
Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the administration and plaintiffs, which include parents who are immigrants and their young children.
The Legal Foundation
For over a century and a half, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the rule that anyone born in the United States is a American citizen, with exceptions 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 directive sought to refuse citizenship to the children of people who are either 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 Americas – that award instant citizenship to anyone born in their territory.
