America's top judicial body agrees to review lawsuit disputing citizenship by birth.

The nation's highest court has decided to review a landmark case that questions a century-old guarantee: birthright citizenship for individuals born in the United States.

On the inaugural day in office this January, the administration enacted a directive aiming to halt the policy, but the move was struck down by federal courts after legal challenges were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's ultimate ruling will either uphold citizenship rights for the offspring of migrants who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify the provision entirely.

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

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For more than 150 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the rule that anyone born in the country is a American citizen, with exceptions for children born to diplomats and personnel of invading forces.

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

The contested directive sought to withhold citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas.

The United States belongs to a group of about three dozen nations – mostly in the Americas – that grant immediate citizenship to anyone born on their soil.