US Supreme Court agrees to consider legal challenge questioning automatic citizenship for those born in the US.

The nation's highest court has decided to review a pivotal case that questions a longstanding guarantee: birthright citizenship for those born in the United States.

On his first day in office this winter, the administration signed an order aiming to terminate this practice, but the order was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after legal challenges were brought forward.

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 those rights entirely.

Next, the justices will calendar a session to hear oral arguments between the federal government and claimants, which include parents who are immigrants and their infants.

The 14th Amendment

For nearly 160 years, the 14th Amendment has established the principle that anyone born in the United States is a citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to diplomats and personnel of occupying armies.

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

The challenged presidential order sought to deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on short-term status.

The United States is among about a minority of states – primarily in the North and South America – that grant automatic citizenship to any person born within their borders.