US Supreme Court has decided to consider legal challenge questioning citizenship by birth.

The top court has agreed to take on a landmark case that challenges a century-old guarantee: automatic citizenship for those born within US borders.

On day one in office this winter, the administration enacted a directive aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the action was subsequently blocked by lower courts after legal challenges were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's eventual ruling will ultimately support citizenship rights for the children of migrants who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify the provision entirely.

Next, the judges will calendar a session to hear oral arguments between the administration and plaintiffs, which comprise foreign-born parents and their infants.

The Legal Foundation

For nearly 160 years, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the rule that all individuals born in the country is a US citizen, with specific conditions 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 refuse citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on non-permanent visas.

The United States is one of about three dozen nations – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that grant immediate citizenship to anyone born in their territory.