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The justices will hear the Trump administration's appeal of
lower court rulings that struck down the practice known as
metering, in which U.S. border agents capped the number of
people seeking asylum at border crossings by prohibiting
migrants from setting foot in the U.S.
The administration pressed for the high court's intervention
even after President Donald Trump suspended the asylum system on
the first day of his second term and advocates for migrants said
the lower-court rulings have no ongoing practical effect.
The case will be argued in the late winter or early spring.
Metering was first used during President Barack Obama's
administration when large numbers of Haitians appeared at the
main crossing to San Diego from Tijuana, Mexico. It was expanded
to all border crossings from Mexico during Trump's first term in
the White House.
The practice ended in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic led the
government to restrict asylum-seekers even more severely.
President Joe Biden formally rescinded the use of metering in
2021.
Still, the Justice Department said it wanted the justices to
hear the case because the court rulings took away “a tool that
administrations of both parties have deemed critical for
controlling the processing of inadmissible aliens during border
surges.”
U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant ruled in 2021 that metering
violated the migrants' constitutional rights and a federal law
requiring officials to screen anyone who shows up seeking
asylum.
A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed
Bashant's ruling in a 2-1 decision. Twelve of the 29 judges on
the San Francisco-based appeals court voted to rehear the case,
a strong signal that may have caught the justices' attention.
People seeking refuge in the U.S. are able to apply for asylum
once they are on American soil, regardless of whether they came
legally. To qualify, they have to show a fear of persecution in
their own country because of specific reasons, such as their
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social
group or political opinion.
Once people are granted asylum, they can’t be deported. They can
work legally, bring immediate family, apply for legal residency
and eventually seek U.S. citizenship. It offers a permanent
future in the U.S.
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