In two disastrous rulings, today the U.S. Supreme Court joined the Trump administration in dismantling U.S. laws that have been in place for generations to offer refuge to people fleeing persecution, violence, and natural disasters.
With its ruling in Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, the Court upheld policies first challenged during President Trump’s first term where Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials blocked asylum seekers from approaching ports of entry. Asylum seekers waited days, weeks, or months to seek protection in the United States in deadly and dangerous conditions. Federal courts previously found this policy, dubbed “metering,” unlawful. However, today’s Supreme Court decision reversed course and sided with the Trump administration to short-circuit U.S. asylum laws, finding that the people CBP pushed back had not technically “arrived” in the United States until they crossed the physical border. As a result, the Court ruled, these individuals have no right to seek protection and the government may force them to wait in Mexico.
In a separate case, Mullin v. Doe, the Court upheld decisions by former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to terminate Temporary Protection Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of people from Haiti and Syria. TPS is a humanitarian program enacted by Congress to delay deportations to countries where armed conflict, natural disaster, and other extraordinary circumstances have put people’s lives in danger. For Haitians and Syrians, this danger has spanned many years as humanitarian, civil war, and security crises have forced mass displacement and resulted in the collapse of critical public infrastructure. Former Secretary Noem systematically terminated TPS protection with no regard for continuing crises in both nations. Today’s ruling will tear away Haitians and Syrians, among other TPS holders, from our communities, force them into Trump’s mass-deportation pipeline, and compound the tragedies their home countries already face.
NIJC Director of Policy Azadeh Erfani provided the following statement:
“Today the Supreme Court cosigned the president’s racist anti-immigrant agenda and slammed the door on people the United States should be eager to protect. This includes asylum seekers who present themselves at our southern border, only to be pushed away by CBP, and our Haitian and Syrian neighbors, among other TPS holders who have helped our communities thrive while finding safety and stability. People who have come to the United States to seek refuge and have tried to follow our laws are being told by our highest court that they are not welcome. While the world celebrates the 75 years of the international community vowing to protect those who need refuge, the Supreme Court has joined Trump’s Executive Branch in eviscerating domestic and international humanitarian protection.
“Congress has the ability to avert the catastrophic impact of these decisions on U.S. communities and our asylum system. Congress must act quickly to pass legislation providing a permanent pathway to citizenship for TPS holders and restore the full force of the bipartisan Refugee Act to ensure no one is returned to danger.”