Supreme Court to decide fate of Trump's asylum ban at the southern border
Photo: Expedia (file photo)The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether President Donald Trump can bar migrants who cross the southern border illegally from seeking asylum — taking up a case the administration calls the "most important and effective" piece of its border crackdown.
Hours into his second term, on January 20, 2025, Trump issued a proclamation declaring crossings at the southern border an "invasion" and moved to block many people arriving there from applying for asylum. Under the policy, migrants caught crossing the southern border illegally are barred from pursuing asylum claims. The ban also applies to migrants who arrive at official border crossings and lack certain medical or criminal history information — a requirement advocates say is often impossible for people fleeing violence to meet.
Immigrant rights groups and individual migrants sued, arguing that Trump is gutting protections Congress created for people fleeing persecution or torture. Federal immigration law allows anyone in the country or at an official entry port to apply for asylum.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled in favor of the challengers in July 2025, finding that Trump lacked the "sweeping authority" he asserted. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld that ruling in April, but largely blocked the decision from taking effect so the administration could appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Justice Department told the justices that presidents have inherent authority to secure the border and protect national security, and that because the decision of whether to grant asylum is up to the government, the president can broadly decide that anyone who crosses illegally is not eligible for asylum.
The government says the policy has dramatically reduced the number of migrants apprehended at the border — by 93 percent. Immigrant rights groups challenging the policy responded that border apprehensions were already down more than 90 percent from their peak before the change took effect.
The justices are expected to hear arguments in the coming months and rule by the end of June. The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, has been largely deferential to Trump in challenges to his immigration policies during his second term. Last June, the court said the federal government may turn back asylum seekers when officials deem border crossings too overburdened to handle additional claims.
The asylum case is one of three major immigration disputes the court will decide this term. The justices will also rule on whether the administration can detain millions of immigrants without giving them a chance to seek bond, and whether it can deport immigrants to countries other than their own without letting them argue that they could face persecution or torture there. Arguments in the third-country deportation case are set for December 9.
Sources: Reuters, "Supreme Court will weigh Trump's asylum restrictions at US-Mexico border" (Nov. 13, 2026, full text verified); USA Today, "Supreme Court to weigh in on Trump's asylum ban, one of his top initiatives" (Nov. 13, 2026, full text verified).
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