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

The top court has decided to review a landmark case that challenges a century-old principle: automatic citizenship for people born within US borders.

On his first day in office this winter, President Donald Trump enacted a directive aiming to terminate this practice, but the action was halted by lower courts after lawsuits were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's eventual decision will ultimately affirm citizenship rights for the children of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on non-immigrant visas, or it will overturn those rights completely.

Next, the justices will set a time to hear oral arguments between the government and the suing parties, which comprise parents who are immigrants and their infants.

The Legal Foundation

For nearly 160 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has established the rule that all individuals born in the nation is a American citizen, with exceptions for children born to foreign diplomats and members of occupying armies.

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

The challenged directive sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US without legal status or are in the country on short-term status.

The United States is among about three dozen nations – primarily in the North and South America – that award immediate citizenship to all those born in their territory.