By — Lindsay Whitehurst, Associated Press Lindsay Whitehurst, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/supreme-court-will-consider-trumps-executive-order-suspending-asylum-access-at-the-southern-border Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Supreme Court will consider Trump's executive order suspending asylum access at the southern border Politics Nov 13, 2026 2:16 PM EST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider President Donald Trump's ban on asylum at the southern border, a pillar of the Republican president's far-reaching crackdown on immigration. WATCH: Supreme Court allows border wall in Big Bend The Trump administration wants to overturn lower court decisions that found the executive order banning asylum applications is illegal. Federal law gives people the right to seek asylum if they fear persecution in their home countries, no matter how they arrived in the U.S. At the same time, it also allows the executive branch to decide whether people are granted asylum. The Trump administration argues it can categorically deny asylum to migrants covered by the order and should not have to accept applications destined to be rejected. Educate your inbox Subscribe…
Supreme Court will consider Trump's executive order suspending asylum access at the southern border
In short
The administration implemented the suspension upon returning to office in 2025 as part of a broader push to curb southern border migration. Federal law traditionally guarantees individuals the right to apply for asylum regardless of how they enter, while leaving final approval to executive officials. However, government attorneys argue that processing inevitably rejected claims causes massive backlogs and incentivizes illegal crossings. Advocacy groups challenging the order maintain that evaluations must be handled individually and point out that border crossings were already falling before the rules took effect.
Key points
- Federal law provides migrants the right to seek asylum irrespective of their manner of en…: Federal law provides migrants the right to seek asylum irrespective of their manner of entry into the United States.
- The administration contends it holds the legal authority to categorically deny applicatio…: The administration contends it holds the legal authority to categorically deny applications to eliminate yearslong backlogs.
- Immigrant rights advocates argue that federal statutes mandate evaluating asylum seekers…: Immigrant rights advocates argue that federal statutes mandate evaluating asylum seekers on an individual rather than collective basis.