America's top judicial body will review case disputing birthright citizenship.

The nation's highest court has agreed to take on a significant case that puts to the test a century-old constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for people born on American soil.

On the inaugural day in office this winter, President Donald Trump enacted a directive aiming to halt the policy, but the order was halted by lower courts after legal challenges were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's eventual decision will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the infants of migrants who are in the US undocumented or on non-immigrant visas, or it will overturn the provision completely.

Next, the judges will set a time to hear the case between the administration and the suing parties, which involve parents who are immigrants and their newborns.

The Legal Foundation

For over a century and a half, the 14th Amendment has established the doctrine that anyone born in the country is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to foreign diplomats 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 contested directive sought to refuse citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on short-term status.

The United States belongs to a group of about three dozen nations – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that award immediate citizenship to anyone born in their territory.