The nation's highest court has decided to hear case questioning citizenship by birth.
The US Supreme Court has will hear a pivotal case that questions a historic principle: automatic citizenship for individuals born within US borders.
On day one in office this January, the administration signed an order aiming to halt birthright citizenship, but the order was subsequently blocked by lower courts after lawsuits were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will ultimately uphold citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end them altogether.
Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the government and plaintiffs, which involve foreign-born parents and their young children.
The 14th Amendment
For over a century and a half, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the doctrine that anyone born in the country is a US citizen, with exceptions for children born to foreign diplomats and members of invading forces.
"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 withhold citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States belongs to a group of about three dozen nations – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that grant instant citizenship to anyone born on their soil.
