Supreme Court says U.S. can turn away asylum-seekers at the border

The U.S. Supreme Court Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images The Supreme Court on Thursday handed the Trump administration a tool that could make it far more difficult for asylum seekers to enter the United States. Asylum is a form of legal protection available to people fleeing persecution in their home countries if they meet certain criteria. Under U . S . law , an asylum seeker who "arrives in" the US is entitled to apply for asylum, and generally cannot be removed from the country until the individual's application is processed. By a 6 to 3 vote, the high court ruled that that federal law allows the government to to stop asylum-seekers from physically setting foot in the United States, effectively keeping them from applying for asylum. The Obama administration was the first to try stemming the flow of asylum seekers that way, but the lower courts blocked the policy on grounds that it violated federal law by denying asylum to people who otherwise would have qualified for it, had they been permitted to literally put one foot over the border. The Trump administration, however, sought to revive the policy, contending that the lower court's ruling "deprives the Executive Branch of a critical tool for addressing border surges and preventing overcrowding at ports of entry. And on __day the Supreme Court agreed. …