America's top judicial body agrees to hear case questioning automatic citizenship for those born in the US.

The nation's highest court has will hear a pivotal case that questions a century-old principle: guaranteed citizenship for those born in the United States.

On day one in office this winter, the President issued an executive order aiming to halt birthright citizenship, but the order was halted by the judiciary after lawsuits were filed.

The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will ultimately support citizenship rights for the infants of foreign nationals who are in the US undocumented or on temporary visas, or it will overturn those rights completely.

Next, the judges will calendar a session to hear the case between the federal government and plaintiffs, which comprise immigrant parents and their infants.

The Legal Foundation

For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the principle that anyone born in the country is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to diplomats and members of occupying armies.

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

The disputed directive sought to deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on short-term status.

The United States is among about a minority of states – mostly in the Americas – that provide immediate citizenship to anyone born on their soil.