US Supreme Court agrees to review case disputing citizenship by birth.
The nation's highest court has will hear a pivotal case that challenges a longstanding constitutional right: automatic citizenship for those born within US borders.
On the inaugural day in office this January, President Donald Trump enacted a directive aiming to terminate the policy, but the order was halted by the judiciary after legal challenges were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's ultimate ruling will either support citizenship rights for the offspring of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify the provision entirely.
Next, the justices will calendar a session to hear oral arguments between the federal government and claimants, which comprise parents who are immigrants and their young children.
A Constitutional Cornerstone
For nearly 160 years, the Constitutional amendment has codified the rule that every person born in the nation is a American citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to diplomats and personnel of occupying armies.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The disputed executive order sought to withhold citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US without legal status or are in the country on temporary visas.
The United States is among about three dozen nations – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that provide instant citizenship to all those born on their soil.
