Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in Asylum Metering Case

Reuters reports that the U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to hear a case involving the U.S. government's authority to limit the processing of asylum claims at ports of entry along the U.S./Mexico border. "The court took up the Trump administration's appeal of a lower court's determination that the "metering" policy, under which U.S. immigration officials could stop asylum seekers at the border and decline to process their claims, violated federal law. The policy was rescinded by former President Joe Biden, but Trump's administration has indicated it would consider resuming it."

The case is Noem v. Al Otro Lado. A SCOTUSBlog summary of the case is here. The issue presented is whether a noncitizen who is stopped on the Mexican side of the U.S./Mexico border “arrives in the United States” under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which provides that a noncitizen who “arrives in the United States” may apply for asylum.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled 2-1 that U.S. law requires border agents to inspect all asylum seekers who "arrive" at designated border crossings.