Asylum is a legal protection granted by a country (like the United States) to foreign nationals who are at or within its borders and fear persecution or serious harm in their home countries due to their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Asylum allows an individual to stay, work, and potentially gain permanent residency and citizenship in the United States. Under U.S. law, people can seek asylum via two main paths: affirmative (applying proactively while not in removal proceedings) and defensive (applying while in removal proceedings).

Between 2016 and 2021, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) unlawfully turned back asylum seekers at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border. Initially, CBP used tactics such as lies, intimidation, coercion, verbal abuse, physical force, and the threat of family separation to deny people access to the U.S. asylum process.

In 2018, the government formalized a “turnback” policy whereby CBP officers prevented asylum seekers in the process of arriving at ports from seeking asylum on the pretext that they lacked capacity to inspect and process them. While the policy was in place, CBP officers physically blocked people from setting foot onto U.S. soil and forcing them to wait indefinitely in dangerous Mexican border towns.

Under our immigration laws, the government is legally required to inspect and process people seeking asylum at ports of entry along the U.S. southern border. The government’s policy of turning back asylum seekers to Mexico flouted that requirement.

People forced to return to Mexico under the turnback policy waited near ports of entry for weeks and months on end, hoping for a chance to be inspected and processed. They were forced to live under precarious conditions without adequate food and shelter, and in regions where cartels routinely prey on vulnerable migrants. Many were violently assaulted, kidnapped, tortured, and murdered while waiting for an opportunity to seek protection.

On November 17, 2025, the Supreme Court granted the Trump administration's request to review the case. Oral argument will be heard on March 24, with a decision expected by June.