The nation's highest court has decided to review case questioning automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The nation's highest court has will hear a landmark case that challenges a historic principle: automatic citizenship for those born within US borders.
On the inaugural day in office this January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to terminate this practice, but the move was subsequently blocked by federal courts after legal challenges were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's eventual decision will ultimately support citizenship rights for the offspring of migrants who are in the US undocumented or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end them entirely.
Next, the court will calendar a session to hear oral arguments between the administration and the suing parties, which involve foreign-born parents and their infants.
The 14th Amendment
For nearly 160 years, the Constitutional amendment has established the principle that every person born in the country is a US citizen, with exceptions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of foreign military forces.
"Anyone born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The contested executive order sought to refuse citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States is one of about a minority of states – largely in the Americas – that award automatic citizenship to any person born on their soil.
