US Supreme Court agrees to review case disputing birthright citizenship.

The US Supreme Court has agreed to take on a pivotal case that puts to the test a historic constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for individuals born in the United States.

On his first day in office this winter, the administration issued an executive order aiming to halt this practice, but the order was halted by lower courts after lawsuits were initiated.

The Supreme Court's final decision will either support citizenship rights for the offspring of migrants who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end the provision entirely.

Next, the court will schedule a date to hear the case between the federal government and the suing parties, which comprise parents who are immigrants and their newborns.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has established the doctrine that anyone born in the country is a citizen, with specific conditions for children born to embassy personnel 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 challenged executive order sought to withhold citizenship to the offspring 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 is one of about three dozen nations – mostly in the North and South America – that provide immediate citizenship to anyone born on their soil.