The nation's highest court agrees to consider legal challenge questioning birthright citizenship.

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

On his first day in office this January, the President enacted a directive aiming to terminate this practice, but the order was struck down by federal courts after lawsuits were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's ultimate decision will ultimately support citizenship rights for the children of migrants who are in the US undocumented or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end the provision altogether.

Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear the case between the federal government and the suing parties, which include foreign-born parents and their newborns.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For nearly 160 years, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the rule that every person born in the country is a American citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel 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 contested executive order sought to deny citizenship to the offspring 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 a minority of states – largely in the North and South America – that grant immediate citizenship to all those born on their soil.