US Supreme Court agrees to hear lawsuit disputing birthright citizenship.

The US Supreme Court has will hear a landmark case that challenges a century-old guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for people born within US borders.

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

The Supreme Court's eventual decision will either support citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on temporary visas, or it will overturn them entirely.

Next, the justices will set a time to hear the case between the federal government and claimants, which involve parents who are immigrants and their young children.

The 14th Amendment

For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has enshrined the rule that every person born in the nation is a US citizen, with exceptions for children born to embassy personnel 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 contested executive order sought to refuse citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas.

The United States is among about a minority of states – primarily in the Western Hemisphere – that provide automatic citizenship to any person born on their soil.