US Supreme Court agrees to review case disputing birthright citizenship.
The top court has agreed to take on a landmark case that questions a century-old guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for individuals born on American soil.
On his first day in office this winter, the administration enacted a directive aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the move was halted by federal courts after constitutional questions were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's ultimate ruling will either support citizenship rights for the children of migrants who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify those rights completely.
Next, the court will schedule a date to hear arguments between the administration and claimants, which comprise parents who are immigrants and their newborns.
The Legal Foundation
For nearly 160 years, the 14th Amendment has enshrined the principle that all individuals born in the country is a citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to embassy personnel and members of occupying armies.
"Anyone 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 withhold 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 is among about three dozen nations – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that grant instant citizenship to any person born on their soil.
