US Supreme Court agrees to consider lawsuit challenging citizenship by birth.

The nation's highest court has decided to review a landmark case that questions a historic principle: automatic citizenship for individuals born on American soil.

On the inaugural day in office this winter, President Donald Trump enacted a directive aiming to halt the policy, but the order was halted by federal courts after lawsuits were filed.

The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will either affirm citizenship rights for the infants of migrants who are in the US without authorization or on short-term permits, or it will end them completely.

Next, the judges will calendar a session to hear the case between the administration and plaintiffs, which include immigrant parents and their young children.

The Legal Foundation

For over a century and a half, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the doctrine that anyone born in the United States is a citizen, with exceptions for children born to diplomats and members of invading forces.

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

The challenged executive order sought to refuse citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US without legal status or are in the country on temporary visas.

The United States is one of about three dozen nations – largely in the Western Hemisphere – that grant instant citizenship to any person born within their borders.