US Supreme Court will hear case disputing citizenship by birth.
The nation's highest court has agreed to take on a landmark case that questions a historic principle: guaranteed citizenship for individuals born on American soil.
On his first day in office this January, the administration enacted a directive aiming to terminate this practice, but the action was subsequently blocked by lower courts after constitutional questions were initiated.
The Supreme Court's final judgment will ultimately support citizenship rights for the infants of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on temporary visas, or it will end them altogether.
Next, the judges will set a time to hear arguments between the administration and the suing parties, which involve immigrant parents and their newborns.
The Legal Foundation
For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has established the doctrine that anyone born in the country is a US citizen, with exceptions for children born to diplomats and members of invading forces.
"All persons 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 withhold citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on temporary visas.
The United States belongs to a group of about three dozen nations – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that provide immediate citizenship to all those born within their borders.
