Appeals court rejects broad Trump administration bid to block asylum applications 

A federal appeals court on Friday rejected President Trump’s effort to ban migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border from seeking asylum, stating it ignored laws enacted by Congress.

“Congress enacted the asylum statute, with narrow exceptions specified by statute, to grant all foreign individuals ‘physically present’ in the United States a right to apply for asylum and have their individual applications adjudicated,” the judges said. “If the Government wishes to modify this carefully structured and intricate system, it must present those arguments to the only branch of government able to amend the INA [Immigration and Nationality Act]: Congress.”

The 2-1 decision effectively blocks a proclamation Trump signed on the first day of his second term, in which he argued that the number of foreign people attempting to cross the southern border was an “invasion” that prevented the federal government from maintaining operational control of the border.

The ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upholds a July 2025 ruling by District Judge Randolph Moss, in which he argued that the president had overstepped his authority in severely limiting asylum for migrants fleeing danger and persecution.

Last year, the D.C. Circuit issued an administrative pause on Moss’s ruling, before eventually lifting the stay, while narrowing his ruling. It allowed the government to carry out Trump’s order to block migrants from the asylum system but stated it couldn’t disqualify migrants from other forms of protection against torture.

Moss is an appointee of former President Obama, while the two judges who upheld his ruling, Michelle Childs and Nina Pillard, were appointees of former President Biden and Obama, respectively. Judge Justin Walker, the dissenting vote, is a Trump selection.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, during an appearance Friday afternoon on Fox News, said she hadn’t seen the ruling but went on to attack the judges.

“Unfortunately, while it’s newsy, it’s unsurprising to me. We have liberal judges across the country who are acting against this president for political purposes,” she said.

“Everything that this president has done and signed with respect to the southern border is completely within his powers as commander in chief, and these judges should be thanking the president of the United States for ending the border invasion that was allowed by the previous administration.”

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

More Administration News

Senators to introduce Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act for SNAP recipients

GOP senators ratchet up pressure on Speaker Johnson to quickly end DHS shutdown

Karoline Leavitt to welcome second baby next week

Rove warns of proposed Florida Republican gerrymander ‘risk’

2 GOP senators break ranks on final Senate budget vote

‘The Falklands are British’: UK blasts report of Trump mulling NATO ...

Hegseth responds to pope’s criticism: ‘We know what authority we have’

Trump’s decline is an emergency: Why doesn’t Congress treat it like one?

4 GOP senators vote against adding SAVE America Act to budget package

White House sending Witkoff, Kushner to Pakistan on Saturday for Iran talks

Hegseth gives 2 questions to TMZ at Operation Epic Fury briefing

Israel’s Netanyahu reveals cancer diagnosis

2 Republicans break with party as GOP defeats budget amendment to lower health ...

India knocks disparaging post shared by Trump

‘Flashing red’ warning signs for GOP put Senate in play

Navy secretary’s removal points to Trump’s anxiety over shipbuilding

The death of the American Dream is now official 

Republican proposes giving part of Virginia back to DC after redistricting loss

© The Hill