Supreme Court Agrees to Review Trump's Border Asylum Ban in Mullin v. RAICES
The Supreme Court of the United States on Nov. 13 in Washington agreed to review President Donald Trump's border asylum ban, in case No. 26-239, Mullin v. RAICES. The Court's docket entry states that review is limited to the first two questions presented by the federal government's petition, and does not extend to the third question.
The first question is whether Presidential Proclamation No. 10888, signed by President Trump on Jan. 20, 2025, the day he returned to office, and its implementing guidance are lawful. Titled "Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion," the proclamation suspended the entry of certain aliens across the southern border and precluded their access to statutory provisions that would enable their continued presence in the country, including asylum.
The second question is whether 8 U.S.C. 1252(f)(1) bars the classwide relief entered by the district court. The government's third question, whether the class definition comports with Article III and Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, was not taken up.
The petition was filed by Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and other federal officials. On the other side are the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) and other legal-service organizations, together with a class of people affected by the proclamation, represented in part by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union and allied groups.
The case was filed in February 2025 in the U.S. District Court in Washington. The district court in July 2025 held the proclamation unlawful and vacated it. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld that judgment in April 2026, holding that the proclamation and its guidance supplanted the removal framework enacted by Congress with procedures outside the immigration statute and blocked access to asylum. The government filed its petition for certiorari on Aug. 24, 2026, after the appeals court denied rehearing en banc in July 2026. The asylum restrictions have remained in effect while the litigation continues.
RAICES said in a statement on Nov. 13 that oral argument is expected in spring 2027. The Supreme Court has not yet announced an argument date, and a decision is expected before the end of the Court's term in June 2027. The ruling will decide whether a president may use a single proclamation to close off asylum applications at the border as a whole.
(Source: Supreme Court of the United States)
Source: Supreme Court of the United States
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