Supreme Court to scrutinize former policy of turning away asylum seekers at southern border
Source: CNN Politics
PUBLISHED Mar 24, 2026, 7:00 AM ET
The Supreme Court on Tuesday will consider the legality of a policy championed by President Donald Trump during his first term that prevented scores of migrants arriving at the southern border from starting the process of applying for asylum.
The policy was rolled out under President Barack Obama, formalized by Trump and rescinded in 2021 under President Joe Biden, but the Justice Department has continued to defend it in court over the years. Trump’s solicitor general, D. John Sauer, recently told the justices the measure is a “critical tool for addressing border surges and preventing overcrowding at ports of entry.”
The case is one of several before the high court this session testing controversial immigration policies that Trump wants justices to approve. Next month, the nine will review an order he issued last year that sought to end birthright citizenship, as well as his efforts to end temporary deportation protections for Haitians and Syrians.
Officials have not said publicly whether they plan to revive the asylum policy, known as “metering,” which was introduced during the waning weeks of the Obama administration and fleshed out by Trump in 2018. But the current administration’s decision to continue backing it in court underscores its desire to keep the policy as a backup avenue to stem the flow of migrants at the border as other restrictive measures face challenges in court.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/24/politics/asylum-seekers-supreme-court
= new reply since forum marked as read
