Top US court rejects Trump bid to enforce asylum rules

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request from the Trump administration to reinstate restrictions that would bar migrants who illegally cross into the U.S. from claiming asylum.

Four of the court's nine justices -- Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh -- would have allowed the practice to go into effect, according to a brief two- sentence order that did not elaborate on the decision.

Justice John Roberts joined with the Supreme Court's four liberal justices in denying a stay in a lower court's ruling halting the asylum restrictions.

Trump has taken a hardline approach to both legal and illegal immigration since assuming office, citing alleged national security concerns.

He issued a proclamation on Nov. 9 seeking to limit asylum claims to only those migrants who present themselves at an official port of entry.

A federal judge in California issued a temporary restraining order in the case 10 days later, blocking the implementation of Trump's policy.

"Whatever the scope of the President’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden," Judge Jon Tigar wrote.

He was referring to a federal statute that allows any migrant who arrives in the U.S. "whether or not at a designated port of arrival” to apply for asylum.

An appeals court in San Francisco refused to stay Tigar's order, setting the stage for the Supreme Court's Friday order.