Supreme Court Hears Border Metering Case

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in a long-running dispute over the legality of a border policy that restricts asylum seekers from initiating claims at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border. The case, Noem v. Al Otro Lado, challenges the metering policy, which allows immigration officials to limit processing based on capacity and turn back migrants on the Mexican side of the border.

The policy traces its origins to 2016, when officials under President Barack Obama began turning away asylum seekers amid a surge of arrivals from Haiti that strained resources at border crossings. It was formalized in 2018 during Donald Trump's first term, enabling Customs and Border Protection agents to decline inspections when ports were deemed overburdened. President Joe Biden rescinded the measure in November 2021, but the Justice Department has defended its legality in court, signaling potential interest in reviving it as a tool to manage migrant flows amid ongoing legal battles over other restrictions.

At issue is whether migrants stopped by federal agents on the Mexican side of a port of entry qualify as having "arrived in the United States" under the Immigration...