US Supreme Court will review lawsuit disputing citizenship by birth.
The top court has agreed to take on a landmark case that puts to the test a historic guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for those born in the United States.
On day one in office this winter, President Donald Trump signed an order aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the move was struck down by federal courts after lawsuits were filed.
The Supreme Court's eventual decision will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the infants of migrants who are in the US undocumented or on temporary visas, or it will end the provision altogether.
Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the administration and claimants, which involve parents who are immigrants and their newborns.
The 14th Amendment
For over a century and a half, the 14th Amendment has enshrined the rule that every person born in the United States is a citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to foreign diplomats and personnel of invading forces.
"All persons 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 withhold citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US without legal status or are in the country on temporary visas.
The United States is one of about three dozen nations – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that award immediate citizenship to all those born within their borders.
