US Supreme Court Allows Trump Administration to Enforce New Asylum Restrictions
In a 5-4 emergency order, the Court lets a policy that forces migrants to seek refuge elsewhere take effect while legal challenges continue. The human cost is not abstract.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a significant victory in its campaign to restrict asylum at the southern border. In a 5-4 emergency order, the justices allowed a policy to go into effect that requires migrants to first seek protection in a third country before they can apply for asylum in the United States. The ruling overturns lower court injunctions that had blocked the measure, at least for now, as legal challenges proceed.
At the center of the case is a simple but punishing requirement. Under the new policy, anyone who traveled through another country on the way to the United States must have asked for protection there first. If they did not, they are ineligible for asylum in the United States, no matter how desperate their circumstances. The administration says the rule is necessary to close loopholes and discourage what it calls frivolous claims. But the practical effect is to close the door on many people who have nowhere else to turn.
