America's top judicial body agrees to consider case questioning citizenship by birth.

The US Supreme Court has will hear a pivotal case that puts to the test a longstanding principle: birthright citizenship for people born in the United States.

On his first day in office this January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the action was halted by lower courts after lawsuits were initiated.

The Supreme Court's final decision will ultimately support citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on short-term permits, or it will overturn the provision entirely.

Next, the court will set a time to hear the case between the administration and claimants, which comprise immigrant parents and their newborns.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For more than 150 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has established the rule that anyone born in the country is a American citizen, with exceptions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of foreign military forces.

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

The contested executive order sought to deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas.

The United States belongs to a group of about three dozen nations – mostly in the North and South America – that grant immediate citizenship to any person born within their borders.