America's top judicial body has decided to consider legal challenge disputing automatic citizenship for those born in the US.

The US Supreme Court has decided to review a landmark case that challenges a historic guarantee: automatic citizenship for individuals born in the United States.

On his first day in office this January, the administration issued an executive order aiming to halt birthright citizenship, but the move was subsequently blocked by lower courts after lawsuits were initiated.

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

Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear the case between the federal government and plaintiffs, which include parents who are immigrants and their young children.

The Legal Foundation

For nearly 160 years, the Constitutional amendment has established the rule that every person born in the nation is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to diplomats and members 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 disputed executive order sought to withhold citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on short-term status.

The United States is among about 30 countries – primarily in the Western Hemisphere – that award automatic citizenship to all those born in their territory.