US Supreme Court has decided to consider lawsuit challenging citizenship by birth.
The top court has agreed to take on a significant case that puts to the test a longstanding constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for people born within US borders.
On day one in office this January, the administration issued an executive order aiming to halt the policy, but the action was halted by lower courts after lawsuits were filed.
The Supreme Court's eventual decision will either uphold citizenship rights for the infants of migrants who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will overturn those rights completely.
Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear the case between the federal government and claimants, which include immigrant parents and their infants.
The Legal Foundation
For nearly 160 years, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the rule that anyone born in the country is a citizen, with specific conditions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of foreign military forces.
"Every individual born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The challenged executive order sought to withhold citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on temporary visas.
The United States is one of about a minority of states – primarily in the Western Hemisphere – that provide instant citizenship to all those born in their territory.