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

The US Supreme Court has decided to review a significant case that questions a historic principle: guaranteed citizenship for people born within US borders.

On the inaugural day in office this winter, the administration signed an order aiming to end birthright citizenship, but the move was struck down by federal courts after constitutional questions were initiated.

The Supreme Court's eventual decision will either support citizenship rights for the offspring of foreign nationals who are in the US without authorization or on temporary visas, or it will end those rights entirely.

Next, the justices will calendar a session to hear the case between the administration and the suing parties, which comprise immigrant parents and their newborns.

The Legal Foundation

For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the rule that every person born in the country is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to embassy personnel and members of invading forces.

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

The challenged directive sought to withhold citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on temporary visas.

The United States belongs to a group of about a minority of states – mostly in the Americas – that award immediate citizenship to anyone born on their soil.