America's top judicial body will consider lawsuit disputing citizenship by birth.
The top court has will hear a pivotal case that challenges a historic guarantee: birthright citizenship for individuals born within US borders.
On his first day in office this winter, the administration enacted a directive aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the action was halted by lower courts after constitutional questions were initiated.
The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will nullify them altogether.
Next, the court will set a time to hear the case between the government and claimants, which comprise foreign-born parents and their newborns.
The 14th Amendment
For more than 150 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the doctrine that all individuals born in the nation is a American citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to foreign diplomats and personnel 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 contested executive order sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States is one of about 30 countries – primarily in the North and South America – that grant immediate citizenship to any person born on their soil.
