America's top judicial body agrees to consider legal challenge challenging citizenship by birth.

The top court has will hear a significant case that questions a historic guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for individuals born on American soil.

On the inaugural day in office this January, the administration issued an executive order aiming to halt this practice, but the move was halted by the judiciary after legal challenges were filed.

The Supreme Court's eventual decision will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the infants 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 arguments between the administration and claimants, which include foreign-born parents and their young children.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For nearly 160 years, the Constitutional amendment has established the doctrine that anyone born in the United States is a citizen, with exceptions 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 disputed directive sought to withhold citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on short-term status.

The United States is among about three dozen nations – primarily in the North and South America – that grant immediate citizenship to all those born in their territory.