America's top judicial body agrees to review legal challenge disputing birthright citizenship.

The top court has agreed to take on a landmark case that puts to the test a longstanding constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for those born within US borders.

On the inaugural day in office this January, the administration signed an order aiming to halt birthright citizenship, but the action was subsequently blocked by federal courts after constitutional questions were initiated.

The Supreme Court's ultimate decision will either affirm citizenship rights for the children of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on temporary visas, or it will end those rights altogether.

Next, the court will schedule a date to hear arguments between the government and claimants, which include foreign-born parents and their young children.

The Legal Foundation

For over a century and a half, the Fourteenth Amendment has enshrined the doctrine that anyone born in the country is a American citizen, with specific conditions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of foreign military forces.

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

The contested presidential order sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on temporary visas.

The United States is among about a minority of states – primarily in the North and South America – that grant instant citizenship to anyone born within their borders.