The nation's highest court agrees to review case disputing citizenship by birth.

The nation's highest court has agreed to take on a significant case that questions a century-old constitutional right: automatic citizenship for individuals born in the United States.

On day one in office this winter, the President signed an order aiming to terminate the policy, but the action was struck down by the judiciary after legal challenges were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's final judgment will ultimately support citizenship rights for the infants of immigrants who are in the US undocumented or on temporary visas, or it will end those rights entirely.

Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the administration and plaintiffs, which comprise foreign-born parents and their newborns.

The 14th Amendment

For over a century and a half, the Constitutional amendment has established the doctrine that every person born in the United States is a US citizen, with exceptions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of occupying armies.

"Anyone 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 withhold citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on temporary visas.

The United States is among about three dozen nations – largely in the Western Hemisphere – that grant immediate citizenship to any person born in their territory.