US Supreme Court paves way for government to block asylum seekers at border

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that government officials can turn away asylum seekers at the southern border with Mexico if they have not yet set foot on US soil. The ruling on Thursday clears the way for the administration of President Donald Trump to revive a controversial policy known as “metering”, in which immigration agents physically block those seeking asylum from crossing the border. Recommended Stories list of 3 items end of list Rights groups have argued that the practice is a way of bypassing domestic law requiring the US to grant the right to apply for asylum to anyone arriving in the country. They also point out that physically blocking individuals from seeking asylum incentivises more dangerous routes. The 6-3 ruling broke down along ideological lines, with the court’s six conservative justices ruling in favour and the three liberal justices dissenting. In the majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito pointed to the provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that says a foreigner who “arrives in the United States” may apply for asylum and must be inspected ‌by a federal immigration official. “The wisdom of the policy of metering alien arrivals at the southern border is not before us,” Alito wrote. “We decide only that an alien standing in Mexico does not ‘arriv[e] in the United States’. …