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Supreme Court will decide if Trump can ban asylum at the border

A decision is expected by the end of June, and the ban stays in place while the case continues, with lower courts having found it illegal.

The U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington in 2024
The U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington in 2024. Photo: 颐园居, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
19 news outlets reported this
Liberal9 outletsPresidential power versus the legal right to seek asylumCenter4 outletsWhat the justices must decide, with the administration's border resultsConservative6 outletsTrump's border policy and the administration's legal argument
ABRAnews EditorialPublished 1 min read
Overview

The agreed on Friday to rule on President Trump's ban on at the southern border. The ban comes from a proclamation Trump signed on Jan. 20, 2025, his first day back in office, declaring an "invasion" at the border. It bars people who cross illegally from seeking asylum.

A federal judge in Washington, Randolph Moss, ruled it unlawful in July 2025, and a divided three-judge panel of the upheld that ruling in April. The appeals ruling is on hold, and the policy remains in effect. The administration contends it may categorically refuse asylum for migrants under the order and need not process applications certain to be denied.

The ACLU and the National Immigrant Justice Center, which represent immigrants in the case, say the law does not let a president stop people from applying. The justices will also consider whether a lower-court judge could grant relief to all affected asylum seekers. The case is Mullin v.

Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services. A decision is anticipated by June's end or early July. It is the third major immigration case of the term.

The administration says border encounters fell 93% after the proclamation, while the immigrants' lawyers say crossings were already falling before Trump took office.

Key figures
  • 93%drop in border encounters since the proclamation, by the government's claimCourthouse News
  • at least eight millionpeople encountered at the southern border over the preceding four years, per Solicitor General SauerLos Angeles Times
  • 13 peopleindividual plaintiffs in the class-action suit, along with three nonprofit groupsCBS News

Three sides of the story

9Liberal4Center6Conservative

19 news outlets reported this

Tap a color or swipe sideways to switch sides.

Liberal9 outlets

Presidential power versus the legal right to seek asylum

The Los Angeles Times opens with the Court's announcement, saying it is "testing a key part of his hard-line policy on immigration." It sets D. John Sauer's figure of "at least eight million" encounters over four years against the ACLU's Lee Gelernt, who calls the ban an "unprecedented power grab." NBC News says the ruling will be "the final word" on Trump's claim of presidential power over asylum at the border and counts the case as the third big immigration dispute before the justices.

CBS News traces the case's history: the class-action suit filed in February 2025, Judge Randolph Moss's ruling and the divided appeals panel's decision in April. It notes that unlawful crossings "have reached historic lows." MS NOW runs the AP wire report, which says the ACLU and National Immigrant Justice Center argue that crossings were already falling before Trump took office and that the law does not let a president stop people from applying.

Center4 outlets

What the justices must decide, with the administration's border results

Courthouse News leads with the question before the justices: whether Trump can block asylum and asylum-seekers by declaring an "invasion." It quotes the ACLU's Lee Gelernt, reports the government's claim that encounters fell 93%, and says the White House pointed to a social media post by general counsel James Percival. Roll Call's headline calls it Trump's "invasion" asylum ban.

It quotes the administration's petition, which calls asylum "a purely discretionary benefit," and says a ruling for the refugees could let the administration restart a policy of stopping asylum seekers before they reach the border. The Seattle Times runs the AP wire report, which carries Sauer's 93% figure, Percival's statement that the order was the "single most important factor" in Trump's border success, and the immigration lawyers' reply. NewsNation's report cites Sauer calling the policy Trump's "main tool" for stopping illegal crossings.

Conservative6 outlets

Trump's border policy and the administration's legal argument

The Epoch Times quotes Trump's January 2025 proclamation, which says states have collectively spent "billions of dollars" on the border influx. It also notes the Court's June win for the administration on turning back asylum seekers and the September order letting third-country deportations resume. The Daily Signal's short report says the administration contends that people from certain countries need not fear persecution and that an application would almost certainly be denied.

It recalls Trump calling the border surge an invasion on his first day back in office. Just the News opens with the administration's position that it is under "no obligation" to accept applications that would be denied, and cites the Associated Press for the rest. The Washington Times describes the ban as "perhaps the most critical tool" in Trump's "unprecedented success" in shutting off most illegal immigration at the border.

All sources: 20 articles from 19 outlets

Liberal (9)

Center (4)

Conservative (7)

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  5. Supreme Court will decide if Trump can ban asylum at the borderThis story
Supreme Court

The highest US court: nine justices, appointed for life by the president with the Senate's approval. Its rulings bind every other court.

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Asylum

Protection for a person persecuted at home for their race, religion, nationality, political views or social group. Usually it must be requested within a year of arriving.

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Appeals court

A court that reviews a lower court's decision for legal mistakes. It does not hear witnesses again, and above the federal appeals courts there is only the Supreme Court.

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Solicitor General

The lawyer who argues the federal government's cases before the Supreme Court. The post is part of the Justice Department.

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Deportation

Forced removal from the US of a person with no legal right to stay. An immigration court usually orders it, but some people are removed faster, without a hearing.

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DHS (Department of Homeland Security)

The federal ministry in charge of borders and immigration enforcement. ICE, CBP and USCIS belong to it, as do the Coast Guard, the Secret Service and the disaster agency FEMA.

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