America's top judicial body agrees to consider case disputing birthright citizenship.

The US Supreme Court has decided to review a pivotal case that challenges a century-old constitutional right: automatic citizenship for individuals born within US borders.

On the inaugural day in office this January, the President signed an order aiming to terminate this practice, but the order was halted by lower courts after legal challenges were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's ultimate ruling will either support citizenship rights for the children of migrants who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will nullify them altogether.

Next, the court will schedule a date to hear arguments between the federal government and claimants, which include immigrant parents and their newborns.

The Legal Foundation

For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has codified the doctrine that every person born in the nation is a citizen, with specific conditions for children born to foreign diplomats and members of invading forces.

"Every individual born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."

The contested directive sought to withhold citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on temporary visas.

The United States is one of about 30 countries – largely in the Western Hemisphere – that award instant citizenship to all those born on their soil.