The nation's highest court will consider lawsuit questioning citizenship by birth.
The US Supreme Court has decided to review a pivotal case that questions a historic principle: automatic citizenship for those born within US borders.
On the inaugural day in office this January, the President issued an executive order aiming to end birthright citizenship, but the move was struck down by lower courts after lawsuits were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's eventual ruling will ultimately uphold citizenship rights for the offspring of foreign nationals who are in the US undocumented or on non-immigrant visas, or it will overturn those rights altogether.
Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear arguments between the administration and claimants, which comprise foreign-born parents and their infants.
The Legal Foundation
For more than 150 years, the 14th Amendment has enshrined the rule that anyone born in the United States is a American 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 disputed directive sought to withhold citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US without legal status or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States is among about 30 countries – mostly in the North and South America – that award automatic citizenship to anyone born in their territory.
