America's top judicial body has decided to review legal challenge questioning citizenship by birth.

The nation's highest court has will hear a significant case that puts to the test a century-old guarantee: birthright citizenship for individuals born in the United States.

On the inaugural day in office this winter, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to end the policy, but the order was halted by lower courts after constitutional questions were filed.

The Supreme Court's final judgment will either uphold citizenship rights for the offspring of immigrants who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will overturn the provision altogether.

Next, the court will schedule a date to hear arguments between the federal government and claimants, which comprise foreign-born parents and their newborns.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For nearly 160 years, the Constitutional amendment has enshrined the rule that anyone born in the country is a American citizen, with certain exclusions for children born to diplomats and personnel of invading forces.

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

The contested presidential order sought to deny citizenship to the children of people who are either in the US illegally or are in the country on non-permanent visas.

The United States belongs to a group of about three dozen nations – mostly in the Americas – that provide immediate citizenship to any person born within their borders.