US Supreme Court will hear legal challenge disputing automatic citizenship for those born in the US.

The nation's highest court has decided to review a significant case that puts to the test a century-old constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for those born within US borders.

On the inaugural day in office this January, President Donald Trump enacted a directive aiming to halt the policy, but the move was subsequently blocked by lower courts after constitutional questions were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's ultimate ruling will either affirm citizenship rights for the infants of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will nullify them entirely.

Next, the court will schedule a date to hear the case between the government and the suing parties, which involve immigrant parents and their young children.

The 14th Amendment

For over a century and a half, the Constitutional amendment has established the rule that all individuals born in the nation is a US citizen, with specific conditions for children born to foreign diplomats and members of occupying armies.

"Anyone born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."

The disputed directive sought to withhold citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on temporary visas.

The United States is one of about a minority of states – mostly in the Americas – that award automatic citizenship to any person born on their soil.