The nation's highest court agrees to consider lawsuit challenging birthright citizenship.

The US Supreme Court has will hear a pivotal case that challenges a historic constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for individuals born on American soil.

On the inaugural day in office this January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to halt this practice, but the action was struck down by lower courts after legal challenges were initiated.

The Supreme Court's final decision will either support citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end the provision altogether.

Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the government and the suing parties, which comprise parents who are immigrants and their newborns.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has established the doctrine that anyone born in the United States is a US citizen, with exceptions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel 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 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 30 countries – largely in the Americas – that grant automatic citizenship to all those born within their borders.