The Supreme Court case ruled last week that the Trump administration can turn back asylum seekers at the border.
The case began in San Diego in late 2016, when the Obama administration began a controversial practice of blocking asylum seekers from entering the country. Instead, they were told to put their name on a list and wait indefinitely.
Lawyers who sued on behalf of asylum seekers argued the practice violated U.S. and international laws originally established to protect Jewish people fleeing persecution from Nazi Germany.
“World leaders came together and vowed never again would they turn people back to persecution,” said Melissa Crow, director of litigation for the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies. “And that is essentially what Justice [Samuel] Alito condoned with [the majority opinion]”
Crow was a part of the legal team defending asylum seekers. They won their original lawsuit in a federal district court during the first Trump term and again at an appellate court during the Biden administration.
But the Supreme Court decision reverses those victories. Crow said vulnerable migrants who are unable to seek asylum in the United States will likely die because of the high court’s decision.
Last week, the court also eliminated protections from Haitian and Syrian who have Temporary Protected Status (TPS) – a special designation given to foreign nationals who cannot be deported because of dangerous conditions like war or famine in their home countries.
The decision impacts 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians living in the United States, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The Supreme Court decided both cases along 6-3 partisan lines with Conservatives holding the majority option. They represent a victory for President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
“I think both of these decisions show that the court doesn’t care all that much about non-citizens, no matter how long they have been here,” Crow said.
The high court will decide on a controversial birthright citizenship case later this week. Lawyers note that the birthright issue is a constitutional case, while the asylum and TPS cases came down to interpretation of legal statutes. Which makes them very different cases.
