America's top judicial body will hear legal challenge disputing citizenship by birth.

The US Supreme Court has will hear a pivotal case that puts to the test a historic guarantee: automatic citizenship for people born within US borders.

On the inaugural day in office this winter, the President signed an order aiming to terminate the policy, but the action was subsequently blocked by lower courts after constitutional questions were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's eventual ruling will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the offspring of migrants who are in the US undocumented or on temporary visas, or it will nullify the provision altogether.

Next, the justices will calendar a session to hear the case between the government and claimants, which comprise immigrant parents and their young children.

The Legal Foundation

For more than 150 years, the 14th Amendment has enshrined the doctrine that all individuals born in the nation is a American citizen, with specific conditions for children born to foreign diplomats and members of foreign military forces.

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

The challenged presidential 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 belongs to a group of about 30 countries – mostly in the North and South America – that grant immediate citizenship to any person born in their territory.