America's top judicial body will hear lawsuit questioning birthright citizenship.
The nation's highest court has will hear a pivotal case that puts to the test a century-old principle: automatic citizenship for people born in the United States.
On day one in office this January, the administration enacted a directive aiming to halt the policy, but the order was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after lawsuits were filed.
The Supreme Court's final ruling will either support citizenship rights for the infants of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on short-term permits, or it will overturn those rights entirely.
Next, the court will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the federal government and claimants, which involve parents who are immigrants and their young children.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has enshrined the rule that every person born in the nation is a citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to foreign diplomats and personnel of occupying armies.
"Every individual born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The disputed presidential order sought to refuse citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US without legal status or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States belongs to a group of about three dozen nations – primarily in the Western Hemisphere – that award immediate citizenship to anyone born within their borders.
