The justices will hear Trump's appeal of a lower-court ruling that struck down the citizenship restrictions. They have not taken effect anywhere in the country.
The case will be argued in the spring. A definitive ruling is expected by early summer.
The biirthright citizenship order, which Trump signed the first day of his second term, is part of his administration’s broad effort to deal with the millions of illegal aliens living in the country.
Birthright citizenship is the first Trump immigration-related policy to reach the court for a final ruling. His order, according to opponents, is in conflict with the Constitution’s 14th Amendment that confers citizenship on everyone born on American soil, with narrow exceptions for the children of foreign diplomats and those born to a foreign occupying force.
In a series of decisions, lower courts have struck down the executive order as unconstitutional, or likely so, even after a Supreme Court ruling in late June that limited judges’ use of nationwide injunctions.
The administration has asserted that children of illegal immigrants are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and therefore not entitled to citizenship.
“The Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause was adopted to grant citizenship to newly freed slaves and their children — not ... to the children of aliens illegally or temporarily in the United States,” top administration top Supreme Court lawyer, D. John Sauer, wrote in urging the high court’s review.
Twenty-four Republican-led states and 27 Republican lawmakers, including Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, are backing the administration.
