The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear Noem v. Al Otro Lado, a case reviewing a policy used by past administrations to deny immigrants a chance to apply for asylum on the Mexican border until space opened to process claims.
The Trump administration is appealing a decision made by the Ninth Circuit on October 23, 2024, to strike down “metering,” a practice where U.S. border agents cap the number of people seeking asylum at border crossings. Attorneys from the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a petition for a writ of certiorari on July 1, 2025. An immigrant seeking asylum may apply under the Immigration and Nationality Act, specifically 8 U.S.C. 1158(a)(1).
Metering was first used during President Obama’s administration. At the time, it was used near the border between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. During President Trump’s first term it was expanded to all border crossings, due to a surge of immigration in 2016. The practice ended in 2020 when the COVID pandemic led the government to restrict asylum seekers even more severely. President Biden formally rescinded the use of metering in 2021.
In 2021, US District Judge Cynthia Bashant ruled that metering “violated the migrants’ constitutional rights and a federal law requiring officials to screen anyone who shows up seeking asylum.”
The DOJ argued in its petition that the decision made by the Ninth Circuit, “deprives the Executive Branch of a critical tool for addressing border surges and for preventing overcrowding at ports of entry along the border.”
The case is expected to be heard in late winter or early spring.