US Supreme Court will consider lawsuit disputing citizenship by birth.

The nation's highest court has agreed to take on a significant case that questions a historic guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for those born within US borders.

On day one in office this winter, President Donald Trump signed an order aiming to halt this practice, but the order was subsequently blocked by federal courts after legal challenges were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's ultimate ruling will ultimately uphold citizenship rights for the infants of migrants who are in the US without authorization or on temporary visas, or it will overturn those rights altogether.

Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear arguments between the federal government and the suing parties, which include parents who are immigrants and their newborns.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For over a century and a half, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the rule that anyone born in the nation is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to foreign diplomats and personnel of occupying armies.

"All persons 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 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 – mostly in the Americas – that provide immediate citizenship to anyone born within their borders.