America's top judicial body has decided to consider case disputing birthright citizenship.
The nation's highest court has will hear a pivotal case that questions a century-old constitutional right: birthright citizenship for those born on American soil.
On day one in office this winter, President Donald Trump signed an order aiming to end the policy, but the move was struck down by the judiciary after lawsuits were brought forward.
The Supreme Court's eventual ruling will either uphold citizenship rights for the children of migrants who are in the US undocumented or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end them entirely.
Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the federal government and plaintiffs, which comprise immigrant parents and their young children.
The 14th Amendment
For over a century and a half, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the rule that anyone born in the country is a citizen, with exceptions for children born to diplomats and members 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 contested presidential order sought to refuse citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States belongs to a group of about a minority of states – largely in the Western Hemisphere – that provide immediate citizenship to any person born within their borders.
