🔗 Share this article US Supreme Court agrees to hear case questioning citizenship by birth. The top court has decided to review a significant case that puts to the test a century-old constitutional right: automatic citizenship for individuals born on American soil. On his first day in office this January, the President issued an executive order aiming to terminate this practice, but the order was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after legal challenges were initiated. The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will either affirm citizenship rights for the children of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will overturn those rights altogether. Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear the case between the federal government and plaintiffs, which involve foreign-born parents and their infants. The Legal Foundation For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has codified the rule that every person born in the nation is a American citizen, with exceptions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel 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 contested executive order sought to withhold citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas. The United States is among about a minority of states – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that award immediate citizenship to all those born in their territory.
The top court has decided to review a significant case that puts to the test a century-old constitutional right: automatic citizenship for individuals born on American soil. On his first day in office this January, the President issued an executive order aiming to terminate this practice, but the order was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after legal challenges were initiated. The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will either affirm citizenship rights for the children of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will overturn those rights altogether. Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear the case between the federal government and plaintiffs, which involve foreign-born parents and their infants. The Legal Foundation For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has codified the rule that every person born in the nation is a American citizen, with exceptions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel 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 contested executive order sought to withhold citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas. The United States is among about a minority of states – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that award immediate citizenship to all those born in their territory.