America's top judicial body agrees to hear legal challenge challenging birthright citizenship.

The nation's highest court has decided to review a landmark case that challenges a longstanding constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for those born within US borders.

On the inaugural day in office this winter, President Donald Trump enacted a directive aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the action was halted by lower courts after lawsuits were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's ultimate ruling will ultimately support citizenship rights for the offspring of migrants who are in the US without authorization or on temporary visas, or it will nullify the provision entirely.

Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear the case between the administration and claimants, which involve immigrant parents and their infants.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For over a century and a half, the Fourteenth Amendment has enshrined the rule that every person born in the country is a American citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to foreign diplomats and personnel of foreign military 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 short-term status.

The United States belongs to a group of about 30 countries – primarily in the Americas – that grant automatic citizenship to all those born within their borders.