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The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday in a case that could determine the future of birthright citizenship in the United States—something President Trump has sought to limit the scope of via an executive order.
Cases dealing with the issue have come before the court before, but this is the first time the Supreme Court is expected to deal with the actual merits of whether or not the birthright citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment—which was originally meant to ensure children of freed slaves would be citizens—should extend to the children of illegal aliens.
“Because the courts below said birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court will get to the actual merits of the question,” explained Heritage Foundation legal fellow Culley Stimson.
Stimson did, however, warn that SCOTUS could still find a way to punt the case back down to a lower court because “the court typically tries to avoid ruling on the Constitution if they can avoid it and rule on a statutory basis.”
That being said, Stimson does still expect SCOTUS to issue this ruling—which he said would be a blockbuster—sometime toward the end of June, which is typically when major decisions are released by the Supreme Court.
The President is expected to attend the hearing. It will be the first time in history that a sitting US President will be at a hearing of the nation's highest court.