America's top judicial body will consider case questioning birthright citizenship.
The US Supreme Court has will hear a significant case that challenges a longstanding guarantee: birthright citizenship for those born on American soil.
On day one in office this winter, the President issued an executive order aiming to terminate this practice, but the move was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after legal challenges were filed.
The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will either uphold citizenship rights for the infants of migrants who are in the US undocumented or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end them altogether.
Next, the justices will calendar a session to hear the case between the federal government and plaintiffs, which involve parents who are immigrants and their infants.
The 14th Amendment
For over a century and a half, the Fourteenth Amendment has established the rule 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 challenged 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 short-term status.
The United States is among about 30 countries – primarily in the Western Hemisphere – that award immediate citizenship to anyone born within their borders.
