The nation's highest court will consider case disputing automatic citizenship for those born in the US.

The US Supreme Court has will hear a landmark case that questions a historic guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for people born in the United States.

On his first day in office this winter, President Donald Trump enacted a directive aiming to terminate this practice, but the action was subsequently blocked by lower courts after legal challenges were filed.

The Supreme Court's final 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 nullify the provision altogether.

Next, the court will schedule a date to hear arguments between the federal government and plaintiffs, which include immigrant parents and their infants.

The Legal Foundation

For nearly 160 years, the 14th Amendment has established the principle that every person born in the country is a US citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to diplomats and members of foreign military forces.

"Every individual 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 offspring of people who are either in the US without legal status or are in the country on short-term status.

The United States is among about three dozen nations – largely in the Western Hemisphere – that grant automatic citizenship to anyone born on their soil.