The nation's highest court agrees to review case questioning citizenship by birth.
The top court has will hear a pivotal case that challenges a longstanding constitutional right: automatic citizenship for people born in the United States.
On his first day in office this January, the President signed an order aiming to halt the policy, but the action was subsequently blocked by federal courts after legal challenges were initiated.
The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will either affirm citizenship rights for the children of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will overturn the provision altogether.
Next, the court will schedule a date to hear arguments between the administration and the suing parties, which include parents who are immigrants and their infants.
The 14th Amendment
For more than 150 years, the 14th Amendment has codified the principle that anyone born in the country is a US citizen, with exceptions 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 challenged directive sought to withhold citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas.
The United States is among about three dozen nations – mostly in the Americas – that award immediate citizenship to all those born within their borders.
