America's top judicial body will hear legal challenge challenging citizenship by birth.
The nation's highest court has agreed to take on a pivotal case that questions a longstanding principle: guaranteed citizenship for those born on American soil.
On his first day in office this winter, the administration signed an order aiming to terminate the policy, but the move was struck down by lower courts after lawsuits were initiated.
The Supreme Court's ultimate ruling will ultimately uphold citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US undocumented or on temporary visas, or it will nullify those rights entirely.
Next, the justices will set a time to hear oral arguments between the federal government and claimants, which involve immigrant parents and their young children.
The 14th Amendment
For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the rule that all individuals born in the nation is a American citizen, with specific conditions for children born to embassy personnel 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 executive order sought to refuse citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on short-term status.
The United States is among about a minority of states – mostly in the Americas – that award instant citizenship to any person born on their soil.
