US Supreme Court has decided to hear case challenging birthright citizenship.

The nation's highest court has decided to review a landmark case that questions a historic constitutional right: birthright citizenship for those born within US borders.

On day one in office this winter, the President signed an order aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the action was halted by federal courts after lawsuits were initiated.

The Supreme Court's eventual decision will either affirm citizenship rights for the children of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify the provision entirely.

Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear arguments between the administration and claimants, which involve foreign-born parents and their newborns.

The 14th Amendment

For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has codified the rule that anyone born in the nation is a American citizen, with specific conditions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of foreign military forces.

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

The contested directive sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on short-term status.

The United States is one of about a minority of states – primarily in the Americas – that award automatic citizenship to any person born on their soil.