Supreme Court will consider Trump’s executive order suspending asylum access at the southern border

The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it will review a legal dispute surrounding President Trump's recent order to limit access to asylum and other legal protections for migrants illegally entering the United States through the southern border. This case is part of a series of immigration-related legal challenges that the Supreme Court is set to decide in the coming months.

The justices will also examine the constitutionality of deporting migrants to third countries and holding immigrants detained in the U.S. illegally without the option of a bond hearing. The outcome of these cases is anticipated by the end of June or early July.

President Trump, who has prioritized immigration crackdowns during his second term, has seen a significant reduction in unlawful border crossings and a surge in immigration detentions under his administration. On his first day back in the White House, Trump claimed there was an "invasion" at the southern border, prompting him to suspend the entry of migrants crossing at official ports and prevent them from seeking asylum or other legal safeguards that would allow them to remain in the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security subsequently released instructions to implement the president's directive.

In February 2025, three nonprofit organizations and 13 individuals filed a class-action lawsuit challenging Trump's proclamation and the administration's guidance. A few months later, a federal judge in Washington struck down the Trump administration's asylum restrictions, ruling them unlawful. Judge Randolph Moss concluded that the Constitution and federal immigration law did not grant the administration the authority to supersede the rules and procedures established by Congress.

He also stated that immigration law does not enable the president to arbitrarily curtail the rights of noncitizens in the U.S. to apply for asylum or other protections. As part of his ruling, Moss certified a class of all individuals affected by the president's proclamation and barred the administration from enforcing the directive against them.

The Trump administration promptly appealed the decision, and in April, a divided three-judge panel affirmed the district court's ruling. The majority of the judges found that the president lacked the authority to suspend migrants' right to apply for asylum or to deport them under the administration's new summary removal procedures.

Despite the appellate court's ruling, the Trump administration has continued to enforce its policy restricting access to asylum while legal proceedings proceed, and the D.C. Circuit temporarily halted the lower court's decision pending review by the Supreme Court.