The nation's highest court agrees to review lawsuit questioning birthright citizenship.

The US Supreme Court has agreed to take on a pivotal case that puts to the test a century-old guarantee: automatic citizenship for people born within US borders.

On his first day in office this winter, the President issued an executive order aiming to terminate the policy, but the order was halted by federal courts after legal challenges were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the offspring of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on temporary visas, or it will nullify those rights entirely.

Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the government and claimants, which comprise immigrant parents and their young children.

The Legal Foundation

For over a century and a half, the Constitutional amendment has established the rule that all individuals born in the country is a US citizen, with specific conditions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of foreign military forces.

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

The disputed presidential order sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US without legal status or are in the country on non-permanent visas.

The United States is among about 30 countries – primarily in the North and South America – that grant automatic citizenship to all those born on their soil.