US Supreme Court agrees to consider legal challenge questioning automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The US Supreme Court has decided to review a pivotal case that challenges a century-old principle: automatic citizenship for people born within US borders.
On the inaugural day in office this winter, the President issued an executive order aiming to end birthright citizenship, but the action was subsequently blocked by lower courts after constitutional questions were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's ultimate decision will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the children of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will overturn them completely.
Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear arguments between the government and plaintiffs, which involve parents who are immigrants and their infants.
The 14th Amendment
For over a century and a half, the 14th Amendment has enshrined the rule that anyone born in the nation is a American citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to diplomats and members 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 challenged directive 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 is one of about 30 countries – primarily in the Western Hemisphere – that grant automatic citizenship to any person born in their territory.
