Supreme Court hands Trump two immigration wins on asylum and protected status
The Supreme Court issued two immigration rulings favoring the Trump administration on the same day, both by 6-3 votes along the court’s ideological lines.
In the first, the court held that federal law permits the government to turn back asylum seekers before they reach U.S. soil, upholding a “metering” policy that limits how many people may approach ports of entry to request protection. The decision restores a practice that lower courts had blocked and gives border officials broad discretion to cap or defer asylum claims.
In the second, the court ruled that the president’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status is largely beyond judicial review, allowing the administration to end protections for Haitian and Syrian nationals who had been allowed to live and work in the country because conditions in their home countries were deemed unsafe. The practical effect is that tens of thousands of people lose their shield against deportation, though removals to active conflict zones face separate logistical and legal constraints.
Taken together, the decisions narrow the avenues available to migrants and concentrate more discretion in the executive branch over who may enter and who may stay. The dissenting justices warned that limiting review of TPS terminations leaves vulnerable populations without recourse even when conditions abroad remain dangerous.