US Supreme Court has decided to consider legal challenge disputing automatic citizenship for those born in the US.

The US Supreme Court has will hear a landmark case that questions a longstanding principle: birthright citizenship for individuals born in the United States.

On the inaugural day in office this January, the President issued an executive order aiming to terminate this practice, but the action was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after legal challenges were filed.

The Supreme Court's eventual decision will ultimately uphold citizenship rights for the children of migrants who are in the US undocumented or on temporary visas, or it will overturn those rights completely.

Next, the court will schedule a date to hear arguments between the administration and the suing parties, which involve immigrant parents and their newborns.

The Legal Foundation

For over a century and a half, the 14th Amendment has established the rule that anyone born in the nation is a US citizen, with certain exclusions 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 contested executive order sought to deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are whether in the US in violation of immigration law or are in the country on temporary visas.

The United States is one of about a minority of states – mostly in the North and South America – that provide automatic citizenship to anyone born on their soil.