US Supreme Court to decide legality of Trump's controversial policy on birthright citizenship: The case so far

The United States Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide the legality of US President Donald Trump's controversial policy to limit birthright citizenship in the country.

The justices are expected to hear arguments during their current term and issue a ruling by the end of June, news agency Reuters reported. They did not set a date for the arguments.

What's the case?

The justices took up a Justice Department appeal of a lower court's ruling that blocked Trump's executive order on restricting birthright citizenship.

The lower court had earlier ruled that Trump's policy violated the US Constitution's 14th Amendment and a federal law codifying birthright citizenship rights in a class-action lawsuit by parents and children whose citizenship is threatened by the directive, Reuters reported.

What's the controversial birthright US citizenship policy?

Trump's policy allowed US agencies not to recognise the citizenship of children born in the US if neither parent is an American citizen or legal permanent resident, also called a "green card" holder.

Trump signed the order on his first day back in office on January 20 as part of a suite of initiatives he has pursued during his second term as president to crack down on legal and illegal immigration.

Debate over 14th Amendment

As per the report, the 14th Amendment has long been interpreted as guaranteeing citizenship for babies born in the US.

The 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause states that all "persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside."

The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War of 1861-1865 that ended slavery in the United States.

But, the Trump administration argued that the provision does not grant citizenship to the babies of immigrants who are in the country illegally or whose presence is lawful but temporary, such as university students or those on work visas.

"This case will have enormous consequences for the security of all Americans, and the sanctity of American citizenship. The Trump administration looks forward to making its case on the issue of birthright citizenship on behalf of the American people," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson was quoted by Reuters as saying.

"No president can change the 14th Amendment's fundamental promise of citizenship," said Cecillia Wang, national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the plaintiffs.

The administration asserted that the phrase "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" means that being born in the United States is not enough for citizenship.

Citizenship is granted only to the children of those whose "primary allegiance" is to the United States, including citizens and permanent residents, it has argued.

Such allegiance is established only through "lawful domicile," which government attorneys define as "lawful, permanent residence within a nation, with intent to remain."

The Trump administration said that granting citizenship to virtually anyone born on US soil has created incentives for illegal immigration and led to "birth tourism," by which foreigners travel to the United States to give birth and secure citizenship for their children.

What did the challengers say?

The challengers said the Supreme Court already settled the question of birthright citizenship in an 1898 case called United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which long has been interpreted as guaranteeing that children born in the US to non-citizen parents are entitled to American citizenship under the 14th Amendment.

The challengers also point out that Trump's order violates a law Congress passed in 1940 that was subsequently included in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. That measure codified the Citizenship Clause's language and also adopted what was by then the well-settled understanding that the 14th Amendment promised automatic birthright citizenship.

The cases so far

The legal challenges appealed by the Justice Department concerned one lawsuit filed by the states of Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon, and another filed in federal court in New Hampshire by plaintiffs who sued on behalf of a nationwide class of people affected by Trump's order.

In July, the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the states.

Also in July, Concord, New Hampshire-based US District Judge Joseph Laplante let the plaintiffs in that case proceed as a class, allowing Trump's order to be blocked nationally.

The Supreme Court on Friday decided to hear the class action case only, not the one brought by the states.

The Supreme Court took up the case before a Boston-based federal appeals court had a chance to review it, a signal of the gravity of the legal divide and the need for the Supreme Court to definitively settle the matter on a national basis.

The birthright citizenship fight had landed at the Supreme Court already once this year.

After lower courts halted Trump's order, the administration took the matter to the Supreme Court to challenge the power of federal judges to issue so-called "universal" injunctions preventing presidential policies from applying against anyone, anywhere.

In a 6-3 ruling powered by its conservative majority, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in June blunting the power of federal judges but did not resolve the legality of Trump's directive.

The ruling left open the possibility for courts to grant broad relief to states or to individual plaintiffs through class action lawsuits.

(With inputs from Reuters)