The Supreme Court is considering the legality of a policy first adopted during the Obama administration that restricted the number of migrants who could enter the U.S. seeking asylum at official border crossings.
Migrants had figured out the system was overloaded, and if they made a claim, even if it was bogus, they could earn a quick catch-and-release and spend years here, with quasi-legal status, while their case wound its way through the immigration courts.
Immigrant rights advocates had challenged the policy, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with them, finding that those still in Mexico could be considered to have arrived in the U.S.
However, justices said Tuesday that raised all manner of line-drawing problems.
“Does a person arrive in the house when the person is not in the house and is knocking at the door?” said Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wondered whether someone standing in a 50-person queue to enter the U.S. would qualify.
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, meanwhile, wondered if someone in the middle of the Rio Grande or walking along the boundary between official crossings had arrived.
“So anybody who’s arrived at the fence is in?” he wondered.
Kelsi Corkran, a lawyer for the immigration groups, said it was more complicated than that, but said arriving has to be considered a process, and someone who’s begun the process is entitled to make an asylum claim.
“Arrives in means when you reach the threshold,” she said.
I hope the Supreme Court doesn’t buy that argument. It would be very detrimental to US sovereignty.
Breaking News: A majority of the Supreme Court seemed open to allowing the U.S. to turn away asylum seekers at the Mexico border. https://t.co/DbUkfWT1pk
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 24, 2026
This morning, the Supreme Court hears oral argument in Noem v. Al Otro Lado, a case questioning when a person has “arrived” in the U.S. for asylum purposes under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
I predict that in a Court that is very committed to textualism, the… pic.twitter.com/sqAY3VJLGF
— Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) March 24, 2026