The United States Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide whether President Donald Trump can ban migrants from seeking asylum at the southern border, taking up one of the most consequential immigration cases of his second term.
The justices will hear the administration’s appeal of lower court rulings that found the ban unlawful. Arguments are expected in the spring, with a decision by the end of June 2027.
Trump signed the proclamation hours after returning to office on 20 January 2025, declaring the situation at the US-Mexico border an “invasion” and suspending entry for migrants who cross between ports of entry. Under the policy, those migrants are barred from applying for asylum or other humanitarian relief.
The administration argues it has the authority under Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to suspend entry in the national interest, and that it should not have to accept applications it intends to reject. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the court that border encounters have fallen 93 per cent since the proclamation took effect, to their lowest levels since the 1960s, calling the order the “single most important factor” in the president’s success at the border.
Immigration advocates dispute that account, saying crossings were already falling before Trump took office. The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups, who brought the challenge alongside the National Immigrant Justice Center, argue the order unlawfully rewrites a law passed by Congress. Federal law allows people to seek asylum if they fear persecution at home, however they arrived, and the challengers say decisions must be made case by case rather than by a blanket ban.
“The plaintiffs in this case fled persecution and torture, including political imprisonment and threats from the Taliban,” said Keren Zwick, executive director of the National Immigrant Justice Center. “Yet, the Trump administration refused to honor its obligation to consider them for asylum.”
The case, Mullin v. Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, is the third major immigration dispute the court will hear this term. The justices are also set to decide whether migrants can be swiftly deported to countries other than their own, and whether immigrants can be detained indefinitely during deportation proceedings. A separate hearing on 9 December will consider the administration’s policy of deporting migrants to third countries.
The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, has been largely deferential to Trump in his second term in challenges to his immigration policies. Earlier this year it ruled for the administration in another asylum case, clearing the way for it to potentially revive a “metering” policy used to turn back migrants at the border.
Sources: Associated Press (https://www.tricityrecordnm.com/articles/associated-press-new-mexico/supreme-court-will-consider-trumps-executive-order-suspending-asylum-access-at-the-southern-borde/), Reuters, CNN (https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/13/politics/supreme-court-trump-asylum-policy).
