The nation's highest court will review legal challenge questioning automatic citizenship for those born in the US.

The US Supreme Court has agreed to take on a pivotal case that challenges a historic guarantee: birthright citizenship for those born within US borders.

On the inaugural day in office this winter, the administration issued an executive order aiming to halt the policy, but the order was halted by lower courts after lawsuits were filed.

The Supreme Court's ultimate decision will ultimately uphold citizenship rights for the infants of migrants who are in the US without authorization or on short-term permits, or it will end those rights altogether.

Next, the court will set a time to hear arguments between the administration and plaintiffs, which comprise foreign-born parents and their young children.

The 14th Amendment

For over a century and a half, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the rule that all individuals born in the United States is a US citizen, with exceptions for children born to foreign diplomats and members of foreign military forces.

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

The disputed executive order sought to refuse citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US without legal status or are in the country on non-permanent visas.

The United States belongs to a group of about a minority of states – mostly in the Americas – that provide immediate citizenship to any person born on their soil.