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

The nation's highest court has decided to review a pivotal case that questions a century-old constitutional right: automatic citizenship for people born in the United States.

On the inaugural day in office this winter, President Donald Trump enacted a directive aiming to halt the policy, but the move was halted by federal courts after legal challenges were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's eventual decision will ultimately uphold citizenship rights for the infants of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end the provision completely.

Next, the judges will calendar a session to hear oral arguments between the federal government and plaintiffs, which comprise foreign-born parents and their young children.

The 14th Amendment

For more than 150 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has enshrined the principle that anyone born in the United States is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to foreign diplomats and members of foreign military forces.

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

The contested executive order sought to refuse citizenship to the children of people who are whether 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 three dozen nations – mostly in the North and South America – that provide instant citizenship to anyone born in their territory.