The nation's highest court has decided to review case disputing citizenship by birth.

The top court has agreed to take on a pivotal case that questions a longstanding principle: guaranteed citizenship for individuals born in the United States.

On day one in office this winter, President Donald Trump enacted a directive aiming to halt the policy, but the order was halted by federal courts after lawsuits were initiated.

The Supreme Court's eventual ruling will either affirm citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US undocumented or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify them altogether.

Next, the court will calendar a session to hear arguments between the federal government and the suing parties, which involve immigrant parents and their young children.

The 14th Amendment

For more than 150 years, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the principle that all individuals born in the country is a US citizen, with exceptions for children born to diplomats 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 contested directive sought to withhold citizenship to the offspring of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on short-term status.

The United States is one of about 30 countries – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that provide instant citizenship to anyone born on their soil.