The nation's highest court will review case challenging citizenship by birth.

The US Supreme Court has agreed to take on a landmark case that puts to the test a century-old guarantee: birthright citizenship for individuals born on American soil.

On his first day in office this January, the President enacted a directive aiming to halt the policy, but the move was subsequently blocked by lower courts after constitutional questions were initiated.

The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will either support citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end those rights altogether.

Next, the court will set a time to hear oral arguments between the government and claimants, which comprise immigrant parents and their newborns.

The 14th Amendment

For nearly 160 years, the Constitutional amendment has codified the principle that anyone born in the nation is a US citizen, with specific conditions for children born to diplomats and personnel of occupying armies.

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

The disputed directive sought to deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on short-term status.

The United States is one of about three dozen nations – primarily in the North and South America – that award automatic citizenship to any person born on their soil.