The nation's highest court will hear legal challenge challenging automatic citizenship for those born in the US.

The US Supreme Court has decided to review a pivotal case that questions a historic principle: guaranteed citizenship for people born in the United States.

On the inaugural day in office this January, the President issued an executive order aiming to end birthright citizenship, but the order was subsequently blocked by lower courts after lawsuits were filed.

The Supreme Court's ultimate decision will either uphold citizenship rights for the offspring of foreign nationals who are in the US without authorization or on short-term permits, or it will nullify them completely.

Next, the court will set a time to hear oral arguments between the government and plaintiffs, which include immigrant parents and their young children.

The 14th Amendment

For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has established the principle that anyone born in the country is a American citizen, with exceptions for children born to diplomats and members of occupying armies.

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

The disputed presidential order sought to deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US without legal status or are in the country on temporary visas.

The United States is among about a minority of states – primarily in the Americas – that award automatic citizenship to any person born on their soil.