The nation's highest court has decided to hear case challenging citizenship by birth.

The nation's highest court has decided to review a significant case that puts to the test a historic constitutional right: automatic citizenship for people born within US borders.

On day one in office this winter, the administration enacted a directive aiming to halt this practice, but the action was halted by lower courts after constitutional questions were filed.

The Supreme Court's final judgment will either support citizenship rights for the offspring of migrants who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will nullify them completely.

Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear the case between the administration and the suing parties, which involve immigrant parents and their young children.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For more than 150 years, the 14th Amendment has enshrined the principle that anyone born in the country is a American citizen, with specific conditions for children born to diplomats and personnel 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 challenged executive order sought to refuse citizenship to the offspring 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 three dozen nations – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that provide immediate citizenship to all those born on their soil.