US Supreme Court has decided to hear legal challenge disputing automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The US Supreme Court has agreed to take on a landmark case that questions a century-old constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for people born on American soil.
On his first day in office this January, the administration issued an executive order aiming to terminate this practice, but the move was halted by the judiciary after legal challenges were initiated.
The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will either support citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end those rights completely.
Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear arguments between the government and the suing parties, which involve immigrant parents and their infants.
The Legal Foundation
For over a century and a half, the Constitutional amendment has codified the rule that every person born in the country is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to diplomats and members of invading forces.
"Every individual born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The disputed presidential order sought to deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States is one of about three dozen nations – mostly in the Americas – that award automatic citizenship to all those born within their borders.
