🔗 Share this article US Supreme Court has decided to hear case questioning citizenship by birth. The top court has agreed to take on a pivotal case that puts to the test a historic guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for people born in the United States. On his first day in office this January, the President issued an executive order aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the order was halted by lower courts after constitutional questions were filed. The Supreme Court's eventual decision will either support citizenship rights for the children of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on short-term permits, or it will nullify the provision completely. Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear the case between the federal government and claimants, which include foreign-born parents and their infants. A Constitutional Cornerstone For over a century and a half, the 14th Amendment has codified the principle that anyone born in the country is a American citizen, with specific conditions for children born to embassy personnel and members of invading forces. "Every individual born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." The disputed directive sought to withhold citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on non-permanent visas. The United States is among about three dozen nations – mostly in the North and South America – that grant instant citizenship to any person born in their territory.
The top court has agreed to take on a pivotal case that puts to the test a historic guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for people born in the United States. On his first day in office this January, the President issued an executive order aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the order was halted by lower courts after constitutional questions were filed. The Supreme Court's eventual decision will either support citizenship rights for the children of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on short-term permits, or it will nullify the provision completely. Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear the case between the federal government and claimants, which include foreign-born parents and their infants. A Constitutional Cornerstone For over a century and a half, the 14th Amendment has codified the principle that anyone born in the country is a American citizen, with specific conditions for children born to embassy personnel and members of invading forces. "Every individual born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." The disputed directive sought to withhold citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on non-permanent visas. The United States is among about three dozen nations – mostly in the North and South America – that grant instant citizenship to any person born in their territory.