US Supreme Court will review legal challenge challenging birthright citizenship.

The top court has decided to review a landmark case that challenges a historic constitutional right: automatic citizenship for those born on American soil.

On the inaugural day in office this January, President Donald Trump signed an order aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, but the move was halted by lower courts after constitutional questions were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will ultimately uphold citizenship rights for the infants of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on short-term permits, or it will end the provision entirely.

Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the government and the suing parties, which comprise parents who are immigrants and their newborns.

The Legal Foundation

For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the doctrine that anyone born in the nation is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to embassy personnel and members 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 refuse citizenship to the children of people who are either 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 – mostly in the Americas – that provide instant citizenship to any person born on their soil.