Supreme Court agrees to hear Trump's asylum ban at southern border

Nov 13, 2026

On November 13, 2026, the Supreme Court agreed to decide whether President Donald Trump can legally restrict asylum applications at the southern border. The policy, enacted on January 20, 2025, bars migrants crossing between checkpoints from seeking asylum. Lower courts declared the executive order illegal for overriding statutory protections established by Congress under the Immigration and Nationality Act, though the ban remains active under court stay. A decision is expected by July 2027.

Supreme Court agrees to review asylum ban case

▪The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments and issue a decision on President Donald Trump's southern border asylum restrictions by summer
▪The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review lower court decisions that struck down President Donald Trump's proclamation banning asylum applications

Legal challenges to the southern border asylum proclamation

▪In April 2026, a 2-1 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed that President Donald Trump's southern border asylum ban exceeded presidential authority
▪The Trump administration's southern border asylum restriction policy has remained in effect throughout ongoing legal proceedings under a temporary court stay
▪U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss ruled that President Donald Trump lacked authority under the Constitution or federal immigration law to unilaterally restrict statutory asylum rights
▪Three nonprofit groups and 13 individuals filed a class-action lawsuit in February 2025 challenging President Donald Trump's asylum proclamation and Department of Homeland Security guidance

Arguments surrounding presidential authority and border policy

▪U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued in court filings that President Donald Trump's asylum proclamation rests on inherent executive power to exclude aliens
▪President Donald Trump issued an executive proclamation, declaring an invasion and categorically denying asylum applications for migrants crossing between ports of entry
▪under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, noncitizens physically present in the United States may apply for asylum regardless of whether they entered through a designated arrival checkpoint
▪Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union and National Immigrant Justice Center stated that southern border crossings were already falling before President Donald Trump took office in 2025

Trump's second-term immigration enforcement

▪President Donald Trump's second administration conducted enhanced immigration enforcement operations in major U.S. cities and mass deportations of people in the country illegally
▪Under President Donald Trump's second administration, unlawful entries at the U.S.-Mexico border fell to historic lows while federal immigration detentions reached record highs

Other Supreme Court cases on Trump administration immigration policies

▪The Supreme Court is considering the Trump administration's policy of indefinitely detaining immigrants who crossed the border illegally without access to a bond hearing
▪In an earlier 2026 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Trump administration, clearing the way to potentially revive a metering policy to turn back migrants at the border
▪During the Supreme Court's 2026 term, the Supreme Court is reviewing the Trump administration's policy of deporting foreign migrants to third countries where those migrants have no personal ties