US Supreme Court will consider legal challenge challenging birthright citizenship.

The US Supreme Court has decided to review a pivotal case that questions a historic constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for people born in the United States.

On the inaugural day in office this winter, the President issued an executive order aiming to end the policy, but the move was halted by lower courts after legal challenges were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will ultimately support citizenship rights for the children of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify the provision entirely.

Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the administration and plaintiffs, which comprise foreign-born parents and their newborns.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For nearly 160 years, the 14th Amendment has enshrined the rule that all individuals born in the country is a American citizen, with specific conditions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of occupying armies.

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

The contested directive sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US without legal status or are in the country on non-permanent visas.

The United States is one of about a minority of states – largely in the Americas – that grant automatic citizenship to any person born on their soil.