US Supreme Court will hear lawsuit challenging citizenship by birth.

The US Supreme Court has agreed to take on a landmark case that questions a century-old guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for those born in the United States.

On his first day in office this winter, the President issued an executive order aiming to end the policy, but the order was struck down by lower courts after lawsuits were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's eventual decision will either support citizenship rights for the infants of foreign nationals who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will overturn those rights entirely.

Next, the judges will calendar a session to hear oral arguments between the administration and claimants, which include foreign-born parents and their newborns.

The Legal Foundation

For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has established the principle that every person born in the country is a citizen, with exceptions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of invading forces.

"Anyone 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 without legal status or are in the country on temporary visas.

The United States belongs to a group of about a minority of states – largely in the Americas – that award automatic citizenship to all those born on their soil.