US supreme court agrees to consider Trump’s ban on asylum at US-Mexico border
The US Supreme Court agreed on Friday to consider Donald Trump’s ban on asylum at the US-Mexico border, a central piece of the Republican president’s immigration crackdown after his return to office in 2025. The administration is asking the justices to overturn lower-court rulings that found the executive order illegal. That order has stayed in force while the case proceeds.
Federal law lets people seek asylum if they fear persecution at home, regardless of how they entered the United States. The executive branch still decides who is granted asylum, which confers the right to live and work legally. Trump officials say they may categorically refuse asylum to migrants covered by the order and need not take applications they intend to reject. They also argue that years-long processing times previously encouraged arrivals at the southern border, because many people were released into the country while waiting.
Immigration lawyers at the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Immigrant Justice Center say crossings were already falling before Trump took office. They argue the order tries to wipe out protections for people fleeing danger: grants are supposed to be decided case by case, and the law does not let a president stop people from applying at all.
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