The Supreme Court handed the Trump administration two major victories on immigration Thursday, issuing rulings that limit asylum claims at the border and allow efforts to end temporary legal protections for certain foreign nationals to move forward.
In one case, the Court found that immigrants stopped at the border before entering the United States cannot seek asylum protections. In the other, it ruled that Haitian and Syrian nationals with Temporary Protected Status cannot obtain court-ordered delays while challenging efforts to end those protections.
Writing for the majority in Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, Justice Samuel Alito said that immigrants who reach the southern border but are denied entry have not legally “arrived” in the United States. As a result, the Court concluded they are not entitled to seek asylum under a law that grants that right to individuals who arrive in the country.
SCOTUS also ruled 6-3 that the Trump administration can move forward with ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) protections for thousands of Haitians and Syrians. Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito said federal courts lack authority to review many of the claims brought by challengers and found little likelihood of success on allegations that the administration’s actions were motivated by racial animus. The court’s three liberal justices dissented.
