Supreme Court

Supreme Court Slams the Door on Asylum Seekers at the Border

Justice Samuel Alito compared asylum seekers who haven't made it across the border to a running back being tackled on the 1-yard line.

C.J. Ciaramella | 6.25.2026 1:15 PM

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(Carlos Moreno/Sipa USA/Newscom)

A 6–3 conservative majority of the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the U.S. government can turn away asylum seekers who arrive at the border without processing their claims.

The case, Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, was one of the closely watched immigration cases of the current Supreme Court term. It concerned whether an alien who is stopped on the Mexican side of the U.S.–Mexico border "arrives in the United States" under the meaning of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which states that an alien "who arrives in the United States …may apply for asylum" and be inspected.

The decision reverses and remands a ruling last year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which held that the law "encompasses those who encounter officials at the border, whichever side of the border they are standing on."

However, writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the ordinary, commonly understood definition of "arrives........

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