America's top judicial body has decided to hear legal challenge challenging citizenship by birth.
The top court has will hear a significant case that puts to the test a longstanding principle: automatic citizenship for people born within US borders.
On his first day in office this January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to halt this practice, but the order was halted by lower courts after legal challenges were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's final ruling will ultimately support citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify those rights entirely.
Next, the court will calendar a session to hear oral arguments between the government and plaintiffs, which involve immigrant parents and their infants.
The Legal Foundation
For nearly 160 years, the Constitutional amendment has established the doctrine that all individuals born in the nation is a citizen, with specific conditions for children born to foreign diplomats and personnel 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 presidential order sought to refuse citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on temporary visas.
The United States is among about 30 countries – primarily in the North and South America – that grant immediate citizenship to all those born within their borders.
