America's top judicial body will consider lawsuit disputing automatic citizenship for those born in the US.

The nation's highest court has decided to review a landmark case that challenges a century-old guarantee: birthright citizenship for those born within US borders.

On his first day in office this winter, the administration enacted a directive aiming to halt the policy, but the move was subsequently blocked by federal courts after legal challenges were filed.

The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will either uphold citizenship rights for the infants of immigrants who are in the US undocumented or on temporary visas, or it will end those rights altogether.

Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear the case between the administration and plaintiffs, which comprise immigrant parents and their newborns.

The 14th Amendment

For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has codified the principle 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.

"Every individual 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 refuse citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on short-term status.

The United States is among about three dozen nations – mostly in the Americas – that award automatic citizenship to any person born in their territory.