The Supreme Court just ruled in favor of DHS and a border policy President Trump instituted back in his first term when a surge of immigrants showed up at the border.
In short, DHS began ‘metering’ immigrants they would process for asylum by keeping them on the Mexico side of the border, in an attempt to better control and process the immigrants arriving in the surge. DHS was sued over this policy by Al Otro Lado, who claimed the policy was violating the rights of asylum seekers by preventing them from being inspected and processed for asylum. But the Supreme Court just ruled that no immigrant has the right to apply for asylum until their feet are firmly planted on American soil.
The vote was 6-3:
HELD: An alien standing in Mexico does not “arriv[e] in the United States” by attempting, and failing, to set foot in this country. An alien “arrives in the United States” only when he crosses the border. The INA thus neither entitles an alien standing in Mexico to apply for asylum nor requires an immigration officer to inspect him.
The 3rd opinion is in Mullin v. Al Otro Lado. The court holds that asylum seekers do not "arriv[e] in the United States" for the purposes of federal immigration law until they physically cross the border. https://t.co/munUM36k6K
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 25, 2026
While the border is firmly secure and no surges are happening, the Trump administration argued to keep the policy in place in the event that it is needed again.