US Supreme Court agrees to hear legal challenge challenging automatic citizenship for those born in the US.

The top court has agreed to take on a landmark case that challenges a historic constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for those born on American soil.

On the inaugural day in office this winter, the administration enacted a directive aiming to terminate this practice, but the order was halted by the judiciary after constitutional questions were filed.

The Supreme Court's eventual ruling will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the infants of migrants who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will end the provision entirely.

Next, the court will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the administration and plaintiffs, which comprise immigrant parents and their infants.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For nearly 160 years, the 14th Amendment has codified the doctrine 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 disputed presidential order sought to withhold citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on non-permanent visas.

The United States is among about a minority of states – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that grant instant citizenship to any person born on their soil.