Supreme Court Will Decide Trump Asylum Ban

Overview

• The Supreme Court agreed to hear the administration’s challenge on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, taking the case that asks whether the president can categorically bar asylum claims at the southern border.
• The policy, issued on President Donald Trump’s first day back in office, bars people who cross without certain paperwork from applying for asylum and authorizes immediate removal instead of the individualized adjudication the law normally requires.
• A federal judge in Washington ruled the proclamation unlawful in July 2025 and the D.C. Circuit upheld that ruling in April before the administration appealed, but courts allowed the ban to remain in effect while the case works its way to the high court.
• Solicitor General D. John Sauer argues the president has broad inherent and statutory power to exclude noncitizens, while ACLU lawyers and three immigrant-rights groups say the proclamation unlawfully strips the asylum process mandated by the Immigration and Nationality Act.
• The court is expected to decide by the end of June, and the ruling will not only shape access to asylum and border removal practices but will join other major cases testing Trump-era immigration powers now before the justices.