President Biden's border agenda is hitting a wall at the nation's high court. The U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed a lower court ruling to stand which ordered the Biden administration to reinstate the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" policy. That rule requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claim is adjudicated. The 6-3 ruling signaled possible headwinds ahead for Biden border policy at the Supreme Court, with multiple challenges still pending.
Mark H. Metcalf, former U.S. immigration judge, agrees with the assessment that this SCOTUS ruling could be a bellwether. "The actions of the Supreme Court indicate that the Biden administration's challenges of the Trump border policies are vulnerable," he says. "It indicates that the idea you can let in people who simply ask to come in, with nothing more than a child with them or a sad story, is at an end to some degree."
Metcalf tells KTRH the Biden administration is on shaky legal ground trying to defend its policies, which could portend more losses in court. "You've got chaos at the border," he says. "You have drugs crossing, criminals crossing, along with those who are authentic claimants for asylum...and the only way you can adjudicate that is by controlling who enters the United States."
"Under United States Code Title 42, people who enter illegally should be detained," Metcalf continues. "But they're not doing that, they're allowing people to enter illegally."