The nation's highest court agrees to consider case disputing citizenship by birth.

The US Supreme Court has agreed to take on a pivotal case that challenges a century-old constitutional right: birthright citizenship for those born in the United States.

On day one in office this January, the administration signed an order aiming to end this practice, but the move was subsequently blocked by federal courts after legal challenges were initiated.

The Supreme Court's final judgment will ultimately support citizenship rights for the offspring of migrants who are in the US without authorization or on temporary visas, or it will end the provision altogether.

Next, the justices will calendar a session to hear the case between the government and claimants, which include foreign-born parents and their infants.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For more than 150 years, the 14th Amendment has codified the doctrine that all individuals born in the country is a American citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to foreign diplomats and members of invading forces.

"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 refuse citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on short-term status.

The United States belongs to a group of about a minority of states – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that grant immediate citizenship to all those born within their borders.