America's top judicial body has decided to consider lawsuit questioning automatic citizenship for those born in the US.

The nation's highest court has agreed to take on a landmark case that puts to the test a historic constitutional right: birthright citizenship for individuals born in the United States.

On his first day in office this winter, the administration issued an executive order aiming to terminate the policy, but the order was halted by the judiciary after legal challenges were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will ultimately uphold citizenship rights for the infants of immigrants who are in the US undocumented or on temporary visas, or it will end those rights entirely.

Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the administration and plaintiffs, which comprise immigrant parents and their young children.

The 14th Amendment

For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the doctrine that every person born in the nation is a citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to foreign diplomats and members of invading forces.

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

The disputed 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 one of about 30 countries – largely in the Americas – that award immediate citizenship to all those born in their territory.