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The US Supreme Court has agreed to review a controversial policy that prevents migrants from crossing the US-Mexico border to seek asylum.
Known as “metering,” the policy allowed officials to turn away asylum seekers at border ports of entry.
It was rescinded by the Biden administration, but President Donald Trump is seeking a Supreme Court ruling to clarify its legality in case it is reinstated.
Trump, who returned to the White House in January, has repeatedly pledged to remove millions of undocumented migrants and has implemented measures aimed at speeding up deportations and reducing border crossings.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, any individual who is physically present in the United States, or who arrives in the country, is entitled to apply for asylum.
However, a divided appeals court last year ruled that this provision applies even to people waiting at ports of entry “whichever side of the border they are standing on.”
The Trump administration is asking the conservative-leaning Supreme Court to reject that interpretation.
Solicitor General John Sauer argued in court filings that, in plain English, a person “arrives in” a country only once they have entered its territory, meaning migrants waiting in Mexico have not technically arrived in the United States.
Immigration rights group Al Otro Lado, which represents asylum seekers, welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case.
The organisation said the turnback policy was “an illegal scheme to circumvent the law” and that it left vulnerable families, children, and adults stranded in dangerous conditions where they faced violence, kidnapping, and death.
The move comes amid broader changes to US refugee policy under Trump.
Last month, his administration announced a historic reduction in refugee admissions, cutting the 2026 intake to just 7,500 – down from over 100,000 annually under the Biden administration – with preference given to white South Africans.
