President Donald Trump’s effort to outright ban migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border from seeking asylum has been struck down in court, setting up a likely Supreme Court showdown on one of his signature immigration policies.
In a 2-1 decision, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Trump’s effort to unilaterally deny migrants asylum, ruling that the Immigration and Nationality Act, a federal law that allows for migrants to seek asylum once they have entered the U.S., does not allow for the president to suspend such claims.
“Barring foreign individuals who are physically present in the United States from applying for asylum and, if they make the statutory showing that they are eligible, from being considered to receive it cannot be squared with the statute,” Judge Michelle Childs, a Biden appointee, wrote in the decision.
Childs noted that “Congress enacted the asylum statute, with narrow exceptions specified by statute, to grant all foreign individuals ‘physically present’ in the United States a right to apply for asylum and have their individual applications adjudicated.”
“If the Government wishes to modify this carefully structured and intricate system, it must present those arguments to the only branch of government able to amend the INA: Congress,” she added.
American Civil Liberties Union attorney Lee Gelernt, who had represented the migrants who challenged the administration’s policy, hailed the ruling, saying, the decision “will potentially save the lives of thousands of people fleeing grave danger who were denied even a hearing under the Trump administration’s horrific asylum ban.”
Legal experts expect the case to now wind up at the Supreme Court. The high court is currently considering a case that looks at where exactly on the Southern border a migrant can claim asylum.
The appeals court’s decision upholds an earlier ruling issued last July by a judge in Washington, D.C., that concluded Trump’s policy was unlawful.
“The President cannot adopt an alternative immigration system, which supplants the statutes that Congress has enacted,” U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss wrote at the time.
Moss caught the ire of MAGA for his decision, as Trump’s supporters have claimed he is a “rogue activist judge.”
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
The legal loss for the Trump administration comes as Americans are souring on the president’s aggressive immigration agenda.
A poll from Reuters/Ipsos found that 52 percent of Americans indicated they were less likely to support a candidate who supports Trump’s deportation approach.
The poor polling couldn’t come at a worse time for the Republican Party, which is expected to face widespread losses in House and Senate races in the 2026 midterm elections.
