America's top judicial body will review legal challenge challenging automatic citizenship for those born in the US.

The nation's highest court has will hear a significant case that puts to the test a longstanding constitutional right: birthright citizenship for individuals born within US borders.

On day one in office this winter, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to terminate the policy, but the action was struck down by lower courts after legal challenges were initiated.

The Supreme Court's final decision will ultimately uphold citizenship rights for the offspring of migrants who are in the US undocumented or on short-term permits, or it will nullify those rights completely.

Next, the court will schedule a date to hear arguments between the federal government and plaintiffs, which involve parents who are immigrants and their newborns.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the doctrine that anyone born in the nation is a citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of foreign military forces.

"Every individual 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 children of people who are whether in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on temporary visas.

The United States is among about a minority of states – mostly in the North and South America – that award immediate citizenship to anyone born on their soil.