The nation's highest court will consider legal challenge disputing citizenship by birth.
The top court has agreed to take on a significant case that challenges a historic constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for individuals born within US borders.
On his first day in office this January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to terminate this practice, but the move was struck down by the judiciary after lawsuits were initiated.
The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will either affirm citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end those rights altogether.
Next, the judges will calendar a session to hear the case between the government and plaintiffs, which include immigrant parents and their young children.
The 14th Amendment
For over a century and a half, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the principle that anyone born in the United States is a American citizen, with exceptions for children born to foreign diplomats and personnel 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 contested presidential order sought to withhold citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on temporary visas.
The United States is among about a minority of states – primarily in the North and South America – that award automatic citizenship to anyone born on their soil.
