The nation's highest court will hear lawsuit questioning automatic citizenship for those born in the US.

The US Supreme Court has decided to review a significant case that challenges a longstanding guarantee: automatic citizenship for people born on American soil.

On the inaugural day in office this winter, the administration issued an executive order aiming to end this practice, but the action was halted by lower courts after lawsuits were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's ultimate decision 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 overturn those rights altogether.

Next, the court will schedule a date to hear the case between the government and claimants, which involve parents who are immigrants and their young children.

The 14th Amendment

For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has enshrined the doctrine that every person born in the nation is a citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to foreign diplomats 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 challenged presidential order sought to deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on non-permanent visas.

The United States is among about 30 countries – mostly in the North and South America – that grant immediate citizenship to any person born in their territory.