America's top judicial body will consider legal challenge questioning birthright citizenship.
The US Supreme Court has will hear a pivotal case that questions a century-old guarantee: automatic citizenship for individuals born in the United States.
On his first day in office this January, the President signed an order aiming to end the policy, but the action was struck down by lower courts after legal challenges were initiated.
The Supreme Court's eventual decision will either uphold citizenship rights for the infants of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will end the provision completely.
Next, the justices will calendar a session to hear oral arguments between the administration and claimants, which include parents who are immigrants and their young children.
The Legal Foundation
For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the principle that anyone born in the nation is a citizen, with exceptions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of occupying armies.
"Anyone 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 refuse citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States is one of about a minority of states – largely in the Western Hemisphere – that provide automatic citizenship to all those born in their territory.
