The nation's highest court will review lawsuit questioning citizenship by birth.

The top court has will hear a landmark case that challenges a historic constitutional right: birthright citizenship for people born in the United States.

On the inaugural day in office this January, the President issued an executive order aiming to end the policy, but the action was subsequently blocked by lower courts after lawsuits were initiated.

The Supreme Court's ultimate ruling will either affirm citizenship rights for the offspring of migrants who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will overturn the provision altogether.

Next, the justices will schedule a date to hear oral arguments between the government and claimants, which include parents who are immigrants and their infants.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For more than 150 years, the 14th Amendment has enshrined the principle that all individuals born in the country is a citizen, with exceptions for children born to embassy personnel and personnel of invading 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 offspring 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 three dozen nations – mostly in the North and South America – that award automatic citizenship to anyone born in their territory.