The nation's highest court has decided to review case challenging birthright citizenship.

The nation's highest court has will hear a pivotal case that questions a century-old principle: automatic citizenship for people born within US borders.

On day one in office this winter, the administration enacted a directive aiming to end the policy, but the move was halted by the judiciary after lawsuits were filed.

The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will either uphold citizenship rights for the offspring of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will overturn them completely.

Next, the court will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the federal government and claimants, which include immigrant parents and their infants.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the doctrine that every person born in the country is a American citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to 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 challenged directive sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US without legal status or are in the country on short-term status.

The United States belongs to a group of about a minority of states – largely in the Americas – that grant immediate citizenship to all those born on their soil.