The nation's highest court will review lawsuit questioning birthright citizenship.
The top court has agreed to take on a significant case that challenges a longstanding guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for people born on American soil.
On the inaugural day in office this winter, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to end this practice, but the action was halted by the judiciary 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 illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify them entirely.
Next, the justices will set a time to hear oral arguments between the administration and the suing parties, which involve immigrant parents and their newborns.
The 14th Amendment
For more than 150 years, the 14th Amendment has enshrined the doctrine that anyone born in the nation is a US citizen, with specific conditions for children born to embassy personnel and members of occupying armies.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The contested directive 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 one of about three dozen nations – largely in the Western Hemisphere – that award automatic citizenship to all those born on their soil.
