US Supreme Court agrees to review legal challenge challenging citizenship by birth.

The top court has agreed to take on a landmark case that questions a historic principle: birthright citizenship for those born within US borders.

On his first day in office this January, the President signed an order aiming to halt this practice, but the move was struck down by the judiciary after legal challenges were initiated.

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

Next, the justices will calendar a session to hear the case between the administration and plaintiffs, which include parents who are immigrants and their infants.

The Legal Foundation

For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has established the principle that every person born in the United States is a US citizen, with exceptions for children born to diplomats and members of occupying armies.

"Anyone born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."

The disputed executive order sought to withhold citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on non-permanent visas.

The United States is among about three dozen nations – primarily in the North and South America – that provide instant citizenship to any person born on their soil.