The Supreme Court gave the Trump administration a big victory this week when it allowed it to expedite the deportation of certain asylum seekers. Under the ruling, asylum seekers will no longer be allowed to argue their case in front of a federal judge and prolonging their stay in the U.S.
The High Court found 7-2 that immigrants who fail an initial asylum screening will be eligible for expedited removal from the country.
The specific case the Court dealt with involved a man from Sri Lanka, Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam, who crossed into the U.S. from Mexico. He was quickly arrested and claimed asylum. But he was unable to convince authorities that he faced a credible threat if he was deported.
Under the old rues illegal immigrants who are picked up within 100 miles of the border and within 14 days of their arrival deported in an expedited fashion. The Trump administration, which has argued that the U.S. immigration system is rife with loopholes and therefore are exploited, wants to expand that authority. Under the new regulations, individuals detained anywhere in the U.S. up to two years after they enter the country could be deported in an expedited fashion.
The Supreme Court agreed, noting that in 2019, an asylum claim was found to have a credible fear underlying it just 15% of the time.
This week the Trump administration unveiled additional rules that would make it much more difficult to gain asylum. Those will take effect after a 30-day public-commenting period.