The nation's highest court will hear legal challenge challenging birthright citizenship.
The top court has agreed to take on a landmark case that questions a longstanding constitutional right: automatic citizenship for individuals born on American soil.
On his first day in office this winter, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to halt this practice, but the move was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after lawsuits were filed.
The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the children of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on temporary visas, or it will nullify them entirely.
Next, the justices will set a time to hear arguments between the government and claimants, which include foreign-born parents and their newborns.
The Legal Foundation
For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the rule that all individuals born in the nation is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of occupying armies.
"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 withhold citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States is one of about 30 countries – primarily in the Americas – that provide automatic citizenship to any person born in their territory.
