The nation's highest court has decided to hear case disputing birthright citizenship.

The top court has decided to review a significant case that challenges a historic principle: automatic citizenship for those born in the United States.

On day one in office this winter, the President enacted a directive aiming to terminate the policy, but the move was struck down by federal courts after constitutional questions were filed.

The Supreme Court's final decision will either uphold citizenship rights for the infants of migrants who are in the US illegally or on temporary visas, or it will overturn those rights altogether.

Next, the court will calendar a session to hear oral arguments between the government and claimants, which involve immigrant parents and their young children.

The Legal Foundation

For over a century and a half, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the doctrine that anyone born in the nation is a US citizen, with specific conditions for children born to embassy personnel and members 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 contested executive order sought to deny 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 belongs to a group of about a minority of states – mostly in the Americas – that grant immediate citizenship to any person born within their borders.