US appeals court rejects Trump’s ban on asylum seekers, teeing up appeal | Migration News
Appeals Court Rules Against Trump’s Asylum Ban
Judges say executive order undermines federal asylum laws.
24 Apr 2026
An appeals court has declared that President Donald Trump’s prohibition on asylum applications in the United States is unlawful, marking a significant setback for his administration’s immigration policies.
In a ruling issued Friday, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit concluded that existing laws, particularly the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), provide individuals with the right to seek asylum at the U.S. border.
Trump’s asylum ban was enacted through a proclamation on January 20, 2025, the first day of his second term. The court, however, questioned the legality of the president’s unilateral suspension of asylum applications.
“Congress did not intend to grant the Executive the expansive removal authority it asserts,” the ruling stated. “The Proclamation and Guidance are thus unlawful to the extent that they circumvent the INA’s removal procedures and disregard federal laws providing the right to apply for asylum or withholding of removal protections.”
The appellate decision upheld a previous ruling by a lower court. Though the panel has blocked Trump’s order, its immediate ramifications remain uncertain, as the White House has indicated plans to appeal the decision.
Trump has made immigration a central theme of his 2024 re-election campaign, pledging to combat what he terms an “invasion” of migrants by closing the southern border. Asylum in the U.S. is reserved for individuals facing persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a specific social group, protections that international law recognizes as fundamental human rights.
Unauthorized border crossings surged during President Joe Biden’s administration, which had also implemented asylum restrictions. Millions of migrants, many fleeing gang violence and political persecution in Central and South America, applied for asylum upon reaching U.S. soil. Nearly 945,000 asylum applications were filed in 2023, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
In his January 2025 proclamation, Trump suspended “the physical entry of aliens involved in an invasion into the United States across the southern border.” This decree faced immediate legal challenges, consistent with other elements of Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The appeals court determined that the INA does not authorize the president to remove individuals based on “procedures of his own making.” It also refuted his authority to suspend individuals’ right to apply for asylum or limit the processes for adjudicating claims of torture and persecution. Judge J. Michelle Childs, appointed by Biden, emphasized that the president’s proclamation lacked implicit authority to override mandatory INA processes designed to protect foreign individuals.
The Trump administration is expected to appeal the ruling to the full appellate court and possibly to the Supreme Court. Following the court’s decision, the White House asserted that the ability to ban asylum falls within Trump’s constitutional powers as commander-in-chief.
“We have liberal judges across the country who are acting against this president for political purposes. They are not acting as true litigators of the law, but viewing these cases through a political lens,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt remarked to reporters.
