US Supreme Court will hear legal challenge disputing birthright citizenship.

The top court has decided to review a pivotal case that challenges a century-old principle: guaranteed citizenship for individuals born within US borders.

On the inaugural day in office this January, the administration signed an order aiming to end the policy, but the action was halted by lower courts after lawsuits were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's final decision will either support citizenship rights for the children of immigrants who are in the US undocumented or on temporary visas, or it will nullify the provision entirely.

Next, the justices will calendar a session to hear the case between the administration and plaintiffs, which involve foreign-born parents and their newborns.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the principle that all individuals born in the nation is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to foreign diplomats and members 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 disputed executive order sought to refuse citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas.

The United States is one of about a minority of states – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that award immediate citizenship to all those born in their territory.