US Supreme Court has decided to consider lawsuit challenging birthright citizenship.
The US Supreme Court has will hear a significant case that questions a longstanding constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for individuals born on American soil.
On his first day in office this winter, the President enacted a directive aiming to terminate the policy, but the move was subsequently blocked by federal courts after lawsuits were filed.
The Supreme Court's ultimate ruling will either uphold citizenship rights for the infants of immigrants who are in the US undocumented or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify the provision altogether.
Next, the court will set a time to hear arguments between the administration and the suing parties, which comprise immigrant parents and their newborns.
The 14th Amendment
For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has enshrined the rule that anyone born in the United States is a citizen, with exceptions for children born to foreign diplomats and members 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 contested directive sought to deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US without legal status or are in the country on temporary visas.
The United States belongs to a group of about three dozen nations – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that award immediate citizenship to all those born within their borders.
