🔗 Share this article The nation's highest court agrees to review case questioning birthright citizenship. The US Supreme Court has decided to review a landmark case that puts to the test a historic guarantee: birthright citizenship for people born in the United States. On his first day in office this January, President Donald Trump signed an order aiming to halt this practice, but the action was struck down by federal courts after lawsuits were initiated. The Supreme Court's final decision will either affirm citizenship rights for the infants of foreign nationals who are in the US undocumented or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify them completely. Next, the court will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the administration and claimants, which involve immigrant parents and their infants. The Legal Foundation For over a century and a half, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the doctrine that anyone born in the country is a American citizen, with exceptions for children born to embassy personnel and members of foreign military forces. "Anyone born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." The challenged 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 short-term status. The United States is one of about three dozen nations – largely in the North and South America – that provide automatic citizenship to all those born in their territory.
The US Supreme Court has decided to review a landmark case that puts to the test a historic guarantee: birthright citizenship for people born in the United States. On his first day in office this January, President Donald Trump signed an order aiming to halt this practice, but the action was struck down by federal courts after lawsuits were initiated. The Supreme Court's final decision will either affirm citizenship rights for the infants of foreign nationals who are in the US undocumented or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify them completely. Next, the court will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the administration and claimants, which involve immigrant parents and their infants. The Legal Foundation For over a century and a half, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the doctrine that anyone born in the country is a American citizen, with exceptions for children born to embassy personnel and members of foreign military forces. "Anyone born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." The challenged 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 short-term status. The United States is one of about three dozen nations – largely in the North and South America – that provide automatic citizenship to all those born in their territory.