US Supreme Court has decided to hear lawsuit questioning automatic citizenship for those born in the US.

The nation's highest court has decided to review a pivotal case that questions a historic principle: birthright citizenship for people born on American soil.

On the inaugural day in office this winter, the President enacted a directive aiming to end birthright citizenship, but the order was subsequently blocked by the judiciary after legal challenges were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's final judgment will either affirm citizenship rights for the offspring of foreign nationals who are in the US illegally or on short-term permits, or it will nullify those rights entirely.

Next, the judges will calendar a session to hear arguments between the government and claimants, which include parents who are immigrants and their young children.

The Legal Foundation

For more than 150 years, the Fourteenth Amendment has codified the doctrine that all individuals born in the country is a American citizen, with certain exclusions 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 disputed directive sought to refuse 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 belongs to a group of about 30 countries – mostly in the Western Hemisphere – that grant automatic citizenship to all those born within their borders.