Tipsheet

Trump Just Clinched Some Big Wins in the Courts Regarding His Immigration Agenda

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  March 26, 2026 6:50 AM

Again, Democrats and liberal judges, we won the election by enforcing immigration laws and deporting those who do not belong here. The Biden immigration crisis is over. The Trump era of enforcement and public safety has begun. Of course, these people don’t want to leave, and they’ll cause a ruckus when apprehended. The president has broad authority over this area, and you’re just going to have to deal with it. 

First, it appears likely that the Supreme Court will uphold the president’s authority to turn away asylum seekers before they reach American soil (via SCOTUSBlog):

The Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared likely to uphold the federal government’s policy of systematically turning back asylum seekers before they can reach the U.S. border with Mexico. During roughly 80 minutes of oral arguments in Noem v. Al Otro Lado, a majority of justices seemed to agree with the Trump administration that the policy does not violate a federal law allowing noncitizens to apply for asylum when they “arrive[] in the United States.” 

Under U.S. law, noncitizens can apply for asylum – a form of legal protection for people who fear persecution or harm in their own countries – either when they are “physically present in the United States” or when they “arrive[] in the United States.” Noncitizens who arrive at a port of entry, an officially designated site to enter the country, such as an airport or a land crossing, and indicate that they want to seek asylum are inspected and processed. That is, they are screened by border officials and then channeled into the asylum system, which may include either an interview with an asylum officer or proceedings in immigration court. 

The policy at the center of the dispute – known as “metering” – was adopted almost 10 years ago in response to a surge in the number of Haitian immigrants seeking asylum in San Ysidro, a port of entry outside San Diego. To implement it, officials from the Customs and Border Patrol agency stood along the U.S.-Mexico border and turned back noncitizens without valid travel documents, including asylum seekers, before they could enter the United States. In 2017, the government extended that policy to all ports of entry across the U.S. border with Mexico, and it was formalized in a memorandum in 2018. 

Al Otro Lado, Inc., an immigrant rights group, and 13 asylum seekers went to federal court in southern California to challenge the policy. A majority of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit agreed with them that, for purposes of applying for asylum, noncitizens who were turned away from ports of entry before they could cross the border had “arrived in” the United States. 

After the court of appeals turned down the federal government’s request to reconsider the case, the Trump administration went to the Supreme Court, which agreed last fall to weigh in. 

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the mass detention of illegal immigrants held without bond and facing deportation can continue. This makes the Minnesota immigration sweep earlier this year, which was hampered by the shooting deaths of two left-wing nutjobs in Minneapolis, a grand success: those rounded up are getting shipped out (via Politico):

A second federal appeals court has blessed the Trump administration’s policy of locking up the vast majority of people it is seeking to deport without a chance for bond — even if they have no criminal records and have resided in the country for decades.

A panel of Republican appointees on the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Wednesday that the administration had properly determined that federal law doesn’t only allow — but requires — ICE to detain the vast majority of people it is seeking to deport. That includes millions of immigrants who have long been treated as eligible for bond hearings.

The ruling carries particularly acute implications for Minnesota, where federal district judges are bound to follow it. Hundreds of people detained during the recent ICE crackdown in the Twin Cities have filed petitions for release from custody by challenging the administration’s interpretation of the law, and nearly every district judge in the state had sided with the petitioners. 

Democrats are learning that what Trump is doing is legal. These laws are already on the books, and the disengagement of their political base—illegal aliens—will continue.  

Adiós, illegal aliens.