US Supreme Court has decided to hear case questioning automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The US Supreme Court has will hear a landmark case that challenges a longstanding guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for those born in the United States.
On his first day in office this winter, the administration issued an executive order aiming to halt this practice, but the move was struck down by federal courts after legal challenges were filed.
The Supreme Court's ultimate ruling will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the infants of migrants who are in the US without authorization or on short-term permits, or it will nullify those rights entirely.
Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear the case between the federal government and plaintiffs, which include foreign-born parents and their infants.
The Legal Foundation
For nearly 160 years, the 14th Amendment has enshrined the rule that every person born in the United States is a citizen, with specific conditions for children born to foreign diplomats and members of occupying armies.
"Every individual 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 deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether 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 – mostly in the North and South America – that provide immediate citizenship to any person born in their territory.
