The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the Trump administration can enforce new restrictions against asylum seekers who arrive at the southern border, lifting a lower court's block on the policy.
In July, the administration said it would consider asylum requests only from migrants who sought and were denied protection in the first country they traveled through, which in many cases would be Mexico. The restriction primarily affects Central Americans. Immediately after the new policy was announced, four immigrant-rights groups filed lawsuits, and earlier this week, a federal judge reinstated a nationwide injunction prohibiting the Trump administration from denying asylum to migrants. Those lawsuits are ongoing.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg did not agree with the Supreme Court's action, The Washington Post reports, with Sotomayor writing that the executive branch once again "issued a rule that seeks to upend longstanding practices regarding refugees who seek shelter from persecution. Although this nation has long kept its doors open to refugees — and although the stakes for asylum seekers could not be higher — the government implemented its rule without first providing the public notice and inviting the public input generally required by law."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The Icelandic women’s strike 50 years onIn The Spotlight The nation is ‘still no paradise’ for women, say campaigners
-
Mall World: why are people dreaming about a shopping centre?Under The Radar Thousands of strangers are dreaming about the same thing and no one sure why
-
Why scientists are attempting nuclear fusionThe Explainer Harnessing the reaction that powers the stars could offer a potentially unlimited source of carbon-free energy, and the race is hotting up
-
ABC News to pay $15M in Trump defamation suitSpeed Read The lawsuit stemmed from George Stephanopoulos' on-air assertion that Trump was found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments lawSpeed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security lawSpeed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitutionspeed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidenceSpeed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulationsSpeed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriageSpeed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
