America's top judicial body will review legal challenge questioning automatic citizenship for those born in the US.

The nation's highest court has decided to review a landmark case that puts to the test a century-old principle: guaranteed citizenship for people born within US borders.

On the inaugural day in office this winter, President Donald Trump enacted a directive aiming to terminate this practice, but the action was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after lawsuits were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's eventual ruling will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the infants of immigrants who are in the US undocumented or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end those rights completely.

Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the administration and plaintiffs, which involve immigrant parents and their young children.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has codified the principle that anyone born in the nation is a US citizen, with specific conditions for children born to foreign diplomats and members of invading forces.

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

The contested directive sought to refuse citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on non-permanent visas.

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