The Supreme Court upholds the Trump administration by a 6-3 majority on immigration and asylum border policy
Noncitizens who arrive at the U.S. border do not automatically qualify for asylum and can be removed if they are still outside the country, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision upholding the Trump administration’s interpretation of immigration law.The case focused on whether people waiting on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border could be considered to have “arrived” in the United States under federal asylum law, which allows applications from those “physically present in the United States” or who “arrive in the United States.”Justice Samuel Alito said the law only applies when a person physically crosses into US territory. A person standing in Mexico “does not get to the United States by trying to set foot in this country and failing,” he said, and thus arrives only by crossing the border.
On this basis, he concluded that federal law did not require immigration officials to search these individuals.On the dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, criticized the ruling and its impact on asylum seekers. It said the majority “blesses the executive branch’s decision to close the door to all those fleeing persecution, despite the detailed inspection and asylum system enacted and ordered by Congress.”
The government said the wording of the law was clear, saying a person could not “arrive” in the United States while still standing in Mexico, adding, “This should be the end of this case.” Migrant lawyers warned that this would undermine asylum protections and compromise the country’s legal and humanitarian obligations.The conflict also stems from long-standing border practices. Until 2016, asylum seekers at official ports of entry between the United States and Mexico would cross into the United States and await inspection. However, the Obama administration introduced a “metering” policy that allows border officials to turn people away when entry points are full. The first Trump administration expanded this approach, but the Biden administration later ended it.