US Supreme Court agrees to consider case disputing citizenship by birth.

The US Supreme Court has agreed to take on a significant case that challenges a historic principle: guaranteed citizenship for individuals born within US borders.

On day one in office this January, the administration issued an executive order aiming to terminate the policy, but the action was halted by federal courts after legal challenges were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's final judgment will either support citizenship rights for the infants of foreign nationals who are in the US undocumented or on short-term permits, or it will overturn those rights altogether.

Next, the justices will set a time to hear oral arguments between the government and claimants, which involve parents who are immigrants and their infants.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For more than 150 years, the 14th Amendment has codified the rule that every person born in the nation is a citizen, with exceptions for children born to embassy personnel 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 disputed directive sought to refuse citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US without legal status or are in the country on temporary visas.

The United States belongs to a group of about 30 countries – mostly in the North and South America – that provide automatic citizenship to any person born on their soil.