US Supreme Court agrees to hear lawsuit challenging birthright citizenship.

The nation's highest court has decided to review a landmark case that puts to the test a century-old constitutional right: birthright citizenship for people born in the United States.

On his first day in office this January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to end this practice, but the move was halted by federal courts after constitutional questions were filed.

The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the children of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on short-term permits, or it will end the provision completely.

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

The 14th Amendment

For over a century and a half, the Fourteenth Amendment has established the principle that anyone born in the United States is a American citizen, with specific conditions for children born to foreign diplomats and members 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 challenged executive order sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on temporary visas.

The United States is among about a minority of states – largely in the North and South America – that grant automatic citizenship to any person born on their soil.