America's top judicial body has decided to hear legal challenge disputing birthright citizenship.
The nation's highest court has will hear a pivotal case that puts to the test a historic constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for people born on American soil.
On his first day in office this January, President Donald Trump enacted a directive aiming to halt the policy, but the move was struck down by lower courts after lawsuits were initiated.
The Supreme Court's final judgment will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the offspring of foreign nationals who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify those rights completely.
Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the government and claimants, which include parents who are immigrants and their young children.
The 14th Amendment
For more than 150 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the principle that every person born in the United States is a citizen, with specific conditions for children born to foreign diplomats and personnel of invading forces.
"Anyone born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The challenged directive sought to withhold citizenship to the offspring 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 belongs to a group of about three dozen nations – largely in the North and South America – that grant instant citizenship to all those born on their soil.
