US Supreme Court paves way for government to block asylum seekers at border
Key takeaways
- The court’s three liberal justices dissented, saying the ruling ‘circumvents’ US law by allowing agents to prevent asylum seekers from making a claim.
- Rights groups have argued that the practice is a way of bypassing domestic law requiring the US to grant the right to apply for asylum to anyone arriving in the country.
- The 6-3 ruling broke down along ideological lines, with the court’s six conservative justices ruling in favour and the three liberal justices dissenting.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
The court’s three liberal justices dissented, saying the ruling ‘circumvents’ US law by allowing agents to prevent asylum seekers from making a claim.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Asylum seekers make their way to a US Border Patrol van in January 2025 in San Diego, California, the US [File: Gregory Bull/AP Photo]By Joseph Stepansky Published On 25 Jun 202625 Jun 2026The United States Supreme Court has ruled that government officials can turn away asylum seekers at the southern border with Mexico if they have not yet set foot on US soil.
The ruling on Thursday clears the way for the administration of President Donald Trump to revive a controversial policy known as “metering”, in which immigration agents physically block those seeking asylum from crossing the border.