The nation's highest court agrees to hear lawsuit disputing automatic citizenship for those born in the US.

The top court has agreed to take on a landmark case that questions a century-old guarantee: automatic citizenship for individuals born in the United States.

On the inaugural day in office this winter, President Donald Trump signed an order aiming to terminate this practice, but the order was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after legal challenges were filed.

The Supreme Court's final ruling will ultimately support citizenship rights for the offspring of foreign nationals who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will overturn them entirely.

Next, the court will calendar a session to hear oral arguments between the administration and plaintiffs, which comprise immigrant parents and their infants.

The 14th Amendment

For nearly 160 years, the Constitutional amendment has established the principle that every person born in the country is a US citizen, with specific conditions for children born to diplomats and members of invading forces.

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

The contested presidential order sought to refuse 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 belongs to a group of about three dozen nations – mostly in the North and South America – that provide instant citizenship to any person born on their soil.