SCOTUS to review Trump executive order on birthright citizenship

Trump's order seeks to clarify the 14th Amendment, which states, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

Oral arguments in the case are expected to be held sometime between February and April next year, with a ruling expected from the high court by the end of June.

Trump administration officials have focused their arguments on challenging the "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" provision of the 14th Amendment, and Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the Supreme Court that the clause, in their view, had been misinterpreted.

"The lower court's decisions invalidated a policy of prime importance to the president and his administration in a manner that undermines our border security," Sauer said in the appeal. 

"Those decisions confer, without lawful justification, the privilege of American citizenship on hundreds of thousands of unqualified people."

More than 22 U.S. states and immigrants' rights groups have sued the Trump administration to block the change to birthright citizenship, arguing in court filings that the executive order is both unconstitutional and "unprecedented."

And to date, no court has sided with the Trump administration's interpretation of the 14th Amendment, though multiple district courts have blocked it, including in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling on a similar matter.

News of the high court's review was met with fierce and immediate backlash from the ACLU and other immigrant advocacy groups in the U.S., which accused Trump on Friday of attempting to "unilaterally rewrite the 14th Amendment."

"For over 150 years, it has been the law and our national tradition that everyone born on U.S. soil is a citizen from birth," ACLU legal director Cecillia Wang said in a statement. 

"The federal courts have unanimously held that President Trump's executive order is contrary to the Constitution, a Supreme Court decision from 1898, and a law enacted by Congress," she added. 

"We look forward to putting this issue to rest once and for all in the Supreme Court this term."

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.