America's top judicial body agrees to review case challenging birthright citizenship.
The top court has agreed to take on a pivotal case that questions a historic guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for those born in the United States.
On the inaugural day in office this January, the President signed an order aiming to terminate this practice, but the move was halted by the judiciary after constitutional questions were filed.
The Supreme Court's eventual ruling will either uphold citizenship rights for the infants of foreign nationals who are in the US undocumented or on temporary visas, or it will nullify the provision completely.
Next, the justices will set a time to hear the case between the administration and plaintiffs, which include parents who are immigrants and their infants.
The 14th Amendment
For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has enshrined the doctrine that every person born in the United States is a American citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to foreign diplomats and personnel 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 contested directive sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States belongs to a group of about a minority of states – mostly in the North and South America – that grant instant citizenship to all those born within their borders.
