US Supreme Court agrees to hear legal challenge challenging automatic citizenship for those born in the US.

The US Supreme Court has decided to review a significant case that questions a historic guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for people born in the United States.

On day one in office this January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to end birthright citizenship, but the action was halted by the judiciary after constitutional questions were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's final judgment will either support citizenship rights for the offspring of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will overturn those rights entirely.

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

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For over a century and a half, the 14th Amendment has enshrined the principle that anyone born in the United States is a American citizen, with exceptions for children born to foreign 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 whether in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on short-term status.

The United States is one of about 30 countries – primarily in the Western Hemisphere – that grant automatic citizenship to any person born in their territory.