The nation's highest court will consider lawsuit questioning birthright citizenship.

The top court has agreed to take on a pivotal case that puts to the test a historic constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for individuals born within US borders.

On his first day in office this winter, the administration issued an executive order aiming to end the policy, but the order was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after legal challenges were initiated.

The Supreme Court's eventual judgment will ultimately support citizenship rights for the infants of foreign nationals who are in the US undocumented or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify the provision entirely.

Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear the case between the government and plaintiffs, which comprise foreign-born parents and their newborns.

The 14th Amendment

For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has codified the rule that anyone born in the nation is a US citizen, with specific conditions for children born to diplomats and personnel 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 disputed executive order sought to withhold citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on short-term status.

The United States is one of about 30 countries – largely in the Americas – that award immediate citizenship to anyone born in their territory.