US Supreme Court has decided to hear case disputing citizenship by birth.

The top court has will hear a pivotal case that challenges a longstanding guarantee: guaranteed citizenship for individuals born on American soil.

On his first day in office this January, the President enacted a directive aiming to terminate the policy, but the action was halted by the judiciary after constitutional questions were filed.

The Supreme Court's ultimate judgment will either support citizenship rights for the children of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will overturn those rights entirely.

Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear arguments between the administration and the suing parties, which comprise foreign-born parents and their young children.

The 14th Amendment

For more than 150 years, the 14th Amendment has enshrined the doctrine that every person born in the country is a citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to embassy personnel and members 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 deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether 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 – largely in the North and South America – that grant automatic citizenship to anyone born within their borders.