US Supreme Court agrees to review lawsuit disputing birthright citizenship.

The nation's highest court has will hear a landmark case that questions a longstanding constitutional right: automatic citizenship for individuals born within US borders.

On his first day in office this January, the administration enacted a directive aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the order was halted by the judiciary after lawsuits were initiated.

The Supreme Court's final ruling will either affirm citizenship rights for the offspring of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end the provision completely.

Next, the court will set a time to hear the case between the administration and the suing parties, which include immigrant parents and their newborns.

The Legal Foundation

For over a century and a half, the Fourteenth Amendment has enshrined the principle that anyone born in the country is a citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to embassy personnel and members of foreign military forces.

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

The challenged executive order sought to deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on non-permanent visas.

The United States belongs to a group of about a minority of states – largely in the Western Hemisphere – that provide immediate citizenship to all those born in their territory.