The nation's highest court agrees to consider lawsuit questioning citizenship by birth.

The top court has decided to review a significant case that challenges a historic guarantee: automatic citizenship for those born within US borders.

On the inaugural day in office this winter, the administration issued an executive order aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the order was struck down by the judiciary after legal challenges were filed.

The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the children of migrants who are in the US undocumented or on temporary visas, or it will overturn them altogether.

Next, the court will calendar a session to hear arguments between the federal government and the suing parties, which comprise foreign-born parents and their newborns.

The Legal Foundation

For nearly 160 years, the 14th Amendment has codified the rule that anyone born in the United States is a US citizen, with exceptions for children born to embassy personnel 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 contested presidential order sought to refuse citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on short-term status.

The United States is one of about a minority of states – primarily in the Americas – that grant immediate citizenship to any person born in their territory.