US Supreme Court agrees to review legal challenge disputing birthright citizenship.
The US Supreme Court has decided to review a significant case that challenges a century-old principle: guaranteed citizenship for people born within US borders.
On his first day in office this winter, President Donald Trump signed an order aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the action was struck down by federal courts after lawsuits were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's ultimate ruling will either affirm citizenship rights for the infants of migrants who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end the provision entirely.
Next, the justices will calendar a session to hear the case between the administration and the suing parties, which involve foreign-born parents and their infants.
The Legal Foundation
For more than 150 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the rule that all individuals born in the United States is a US citizen, with exceptions for children born to foreign diplomats and members of invading 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 deny citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on temporary visas.
The United States is among about a minority of states – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that award instant citizenship to anyone born on their soil.
