The nation's highest court will review legal challenge disputing automatic citizenship for those born in the US.
The US Supreme Court has will hear a significant case that challenges a historic principle: automatic citizenship for individuals born on American soil.
On day one in office this winter, the administration issued an executive order aiming to end birthright citizenship, but the move was halted by lower courts after lawsuits were initiated.
The Supreme Court's final judgment will either affirm citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US undocumented or on non-immigrant visas, or it will overturn them completely.
Next, the court will set a time to hear oral arguments between the administration and claimants, which involve immigrant parents and their infants.
The 14th Amendment
For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has enshrined the doctrine that every person born in the United States is a US citizen, with specific conditions for children born to diplomats and members of foreign military forces.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The challenged presidential order sought to deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US without legal status 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 North and South America – that grant automatic citizenship to all those born within their borders.
