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

The nation's highest court has decided to review a pivotal case that questions a century-old principle: birthright citizenship for individuals born on American soil.

On his first day in office this January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the action was subsequently blocked by federal courts after legal challenges were filed.

The Supreme Court's final ruling will ultimately uphold citizenship rights for the children of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end them altogether.

Next, the court will set a time to hear oral arguments between the government and claimants, which include immigrant parents and their young children.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For more than 150 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has established the rule that every person born in the United States is a citizen, with exceptions for children born to diplomats and members of foreign military forces.

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

The disputed presidential order sought to refuse citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on temporary visas.

The United States belongs to a group of about a minority of states – primarily in the Americas – that grant instant citizenship to all those born in their territory.