WASHINGTON (AP) — supreme court agreed on Monday Review your policy Under past administrations, it was used to deny migrants the chance to apply for asylum at the Mexican border until space was available to process their claims.
The justices will hear the Trump administration’s appeal of a lower court ruling cracking down on a practice known as “metering,” in which U.S. border officials limit the number of asylum seekers at border crossings by barring them from entering the United States.
After President Donald Trump shut down the asylum system on the first day of his second term, the administration sought the high court’s intervention, but immigration advocates said the lower court’s ruling would have no lasting substantive effect.
The case is expected to be argued in late winter or early spring.
Metering was first used during President Barack Obama’s administration when large numbers of Haitians showed up at major intersections heading from Tijuana, Mexico, to San Diego. It was expanded to all border crossings from Mexico during President Trump’s first term in the White House.
This practice ended in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic led the government to further restrict asylum seekers. President Joe Biden officially ended the use of meters in 2021.
Still, the Justice Department said it wants the justices to hear the case because the court’s ruling takes away “a tool that administrations of both parties have deemed critical to managing the processing of inadmissible aliens during border surges.”
U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant ruled in 2021 that meter reading violates immigrants’ constitutional rights and a federal law that requires authorities to screen people who show up seeking asylum.
A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Bashant’s decision in a 2-1 decision. Twelve of the 29 judges on the San Francisco-based appeals court voted to rehear the case, a strong signal that it may have gotten the justices’ attention.
People seeking asylum in the United States can apply for asylum once they enter U.S. soil, whether or not they came legally. To qualify, you must show that you are at risk of persecution in your home country because of specific reasons, such as race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
Once asylum is granted, a person cannot be deported. They can work legally, bring next of kin, apply for legal residency, and ultimately obtain U.S. citizenship. It gives America a lasting future
