In a long-awaited decision by a mostly conservative Supreme Court stacked by President Donald Trump, birthright citizenship will continue to be the law of the land in the US, a majority of the justices decided on Tuesday.
The decision came down to a tight 5-4 ruling, although one justice who disagreed - Brett Kavanaugh - still said that longstanding federal law would have upheld birthright citizenship anyway.
"Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights - to freely participate in our political community. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to 'every free-born person in this land',” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority.
"We keep that promise today."
Under the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, with limited exceptions including diplomats on assignment and foreign militaries, all children born in the US automatically become US citizens.
