Politics

The Supreme Court Handed Trump Two 6-3 Immigration Victories in a Single Day

By Mike Harper · June 26, 2026

Two rulings. Both 6-3. Both along ideological lines. Both in Trump’s favor. Thursday was the biggest day for immigration law at the Supreme Court in years.

In the first ruling, the court held that the government may legally turn back asylum seekers who have not yet physically crossed from Mexico onto US soil — reviving a practice known as “metering” that allows border agents to indefinitely decline to process asylum claims. Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion and framed the question in six words.

“A guest does not arrive in a house when he knocks on the front door.”

The legal logic: if a migrant has not physically entered the United States, they have not “arrived” under federal law and therefore have no statutory right to apply for asylum. The policy began under Obama, expanded under Trump’s first term, and was dropped by Biden. The administration said it may now revive it.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the bench — a rare step reserved for cases justices consider especially significant.

“This opinion regrettably and tragically extinguishes the light of the torch of the Statue of Liberty.”

In an unusual exchange, Alito responded verbally after Sotomayor finished reading her dissent — a breach of courtroom protocol that underscored the depth of disagreement on the bench.

The second ruling cleared the way for the administration to strip Temporary Protected Status from approximately 350,000 Haitians and 6,100 Syrians. TPS provides deportation protection and work authorization to nationals of countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters, or political instability. The 6-3 ruling means those protections can be revoked — leaving hundreds of thousands of people who have been living and working legally in the United States subject to deportation.

James Percival, general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, welcomed both rulings.

“We have yet AGAIN been vindicated by the Supreme Court.”

The court is still expected to rule before the end of its term on birthright citizenship — the most consequential immigration case remaining. Thursday’s rulings suggest where the six conservative justices are likely to land.