The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned lower-court orders that have blocked the Biden administration from ending a controversial Trump-era immigration program for asylum-seekers.
Questions from conservative and liberal justices during nearly two hours of arguments suggested that the court could free the administration to end the 鈥淩emain in Mexico鈥 policy that forces some people seeking asylum in the U.S. to wait in Mexico for their hearings.
President Joe Biden suspended the program on his first day in office. After Texas and Missouri sued, lower courts required immigration officials to reinstate it, though the current administration has sent far fewer people back to Mexico than its predecessor.
The heart of the legal fight is whether, with far less detention capacity than needed, immigration authorities must send people to Mexico or have the discretion under federal law to release asylum-seekers into the United States while they await their hearings.
Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, Biden's top Supreme Court lawyer, told the justices the law does not contain a provision requiring migrants to be returned to Mexico and that there is a 鈥渟ignificant public benefit鈥 to releasing migrants who pass criminal background and other checks into the U.S., keeping detention beds free for more dangerous people.
Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh, at least one of whom the administration needs to win the case, suggested that the administration had a better argument than the states.
鈥淵ou lose, right, if the government is right about what significant public interest is,鈥 Barrett said in an exchange with Texas Solicitor General Judd Stone II.
Several justices also picked up on Prelogar's point that no administration, including Trump's, fully complied with the requirement to make migrants wait in Mexico.
If the states are reading the law correctly, Justice Clarence Thomas asked, 鈥淲ouldn't it be odd for Congress to leave in place a statute that's impossible to comply with?鈥
Justice Elena Kagan was among members of the court who wondered whether the lower courts were dipping impermissibly into international relations since reinstating the program depends on Mexico's willingness to accept the migrants and close coordination between the countries.
鈥淲hat are we supposed to do, drive truckloads of people to Mexico and leave them in Mexico?鈥 Kagan asked Stone.
Justice Samuel Alito appeared to be the strongest voice on the states' side, questioning the administration's assertion that it assesses migrants on a case-by-case basis before releasing them.
Border agents stopped migrants 221,000 times in March 2022 and nearly 66,000 migrants were released in the United States, according to a government court filing.
Alito said the situation seemed akin to people waiting to get into a Washington Nationals game. If they have a ticket and no alcohol or guns, they're admitted, Alito said.
鈥淭hat's basically what you're doing. You've got a little checklist and you go, boom, boom, boom,鈥 Alito said.
About 70,000 people were enrolled in the program, formally known as Migrant Protection Protocols, after President Donald Trump launched it in 2019 and made it a centerpiece of efforts to deter asylum-seekers.
After Biden's suspension of the program, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas ended it in June 2021. In October, DHS produced additional justifications for the policy's demise, to no avail in the courts.
The program resumed in December, but barely 3,000 migrants had enrolled by the end of March, during a period when authorities stopped migrants about 700,000 times at the border.
The high court pondered what to make of the limited nature of the challenged program. Chief Justice John Roberts said he was sympathetic with the administration's position that it can't detain everyone or possibly comply with the law. 鈥淏ut where does that leave us?鈥 he asked.
Those being forced to wait in Mexico widely say they are terrified in dangerous Mexican border cities and find it very hard to find lawyers to handle their asylum hearings.
Democratic-led states and progressive groups are on the administration's side. Republican-led states and conservative groups have sided with Texas and Missouri. Those include the America First Legal Foundation, led by former Trump aides Stephen Miller and Mark Meadows.
As the court is weighing the asylum policy, the administration is expected to end another key Trump-era border policy that was put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic. It allows authorities to expel migrants without a chance to seek asylum. The decision to end Title 42 authority, named for a 1944 public health law, on May 23 is being legally challenged by 22 states and faces growing division within Biden's Democratic Party.
A decision in Biden v. Texas, 21-954, is expected by late June.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is supporting Israel's right to defend itself against Iran following last week's ballistic missile attack, saying that right includes 'proactively striking Iranian nuclear sites and oil installations to defund the terrorist regime.'
Florida's storm-battered Gulf Coast raced against a Category 5 hurricane Monday as workers sprinted to pick up heaps of appliances and other street debris left over from Helene two weeks ago and highways were clogged with people fleeing ahead of the storm.
Days after a political sign was erected outside Lululemon founder Chip Wilson's Vancouver mansion, the waterfront property has been vandalized with graffiti.
Toronto Coun. Michael Thompson 'forced himself on' a woman who awoke to find him standing over her after she fell asleep drunk, the Crown alleged Monday, as the five-day sexual assault trial of the six-term politician began in Bracebridge, Ont.
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A disgraced Winnipeg high school football coach convicted of sexual assault and luring will spend 20 years behind bars.
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With prayers, protests, and a heavy police presence, Canada has marked the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and triggered an ongoing war.
A disgraced Winnipeg high school football coach convicted of sexual assault and luring will spend 20 years behind bars.
Toronto Coun. Michael Thompson 'forced himself on' a woman who awoke to find him standing over her after she fell asleep drunk, the Crown alleged Monday, as the five-day sexual assault trial of the six-term politician began in Bracebridge, Ont.
Days after a political sign was erected outside Lululemon founder Chip Wilson's Vancouver mansion, the waterfront property has been vandalized with graffiti.
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Kamala Harris called Donald Trump 'incredibly irresponsible' for spreading falsehoods about the federal response to Hurricane Helene's destruction, offering especially sharp words as a new storm bears down on Florida with just weeks until Election Day.
Palestinian militants in Gaza fired a barrage of rockets into Israel on Monday as mourners marked the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, without disrupting a nearby ceremony. Here is the latest.
A canyoneer died in Zion National Park after falling between 150 and 200 feet near the the Upper Emerald Pool in southwest Utah, according to the National Park Service.
The mayor of a state capital in southern Mexico has been killed just one week after he took office, officials said Sunday.
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Monday there are 'a lot of bad genes' in the United States, while discussing murders allegedly committed by immigrants living illegally in the United States.
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A newly released document shows federal cabinet ministers were warned in May 2022 that hostile states were targeting Canada's strategic interests, the integrity of Canadian institutions and democratic processes, and the ability of the public to exercise Charter-protected rights and freedoms.
Global Affairs Canada says it's chartering more flights from Lebanon this week to help Canadians leave the country as conflict escalates between Israel and Hezbollah.
Georgia's highest court reinstated a ban on nearly all abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy on Monday while it considers the U.S. state's appeal of last week's ruling by a lower court judge blocking the law.
Sammy Basso, who was the longest living survivor of the rare genetic disease progeria, has died at the age of 28, the Italian Progeria Association said on Sunday.
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A spacecraft blasted off Monday to investigate the scene of a cosmic crash.
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The weapons supervisor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western film 'Rust' pleaded guilty Monday to a separate criminal charge of carrying a gun into a licensed liquor establishment.
Cissy Houston, the mother of the late Whitney Houston and a two-time Grammy winner who performed alongside superstar musicians like Elvis Presley, and Aretha Franklin, has died. She was 91.
Federal prosecutors in Nevada have dismissed a long-dormant sex abuse case against Nathan Chasing Horse.
The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed a challenge to the construction of a massive rail-and-truck hub in the Greater Toronto Area, allowing the project to proceed.
Canada's telecommunications regulator says the country's largest cellphone carriers must take steps to make their international roaming rates more affordable.
FTX received court approval of its bankruptcy plan on Monday, which will allow it to fully repay customers using up to US$16.5 billion in assets recovered since the once-leading crypto exchange collapsed.
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The Florida Panthers handed out dozens of rings at a private ceremony commemorating last season's Stanley Cup title to players, coaches, team executives, members of the athletic training and medical staff and more.
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Tesla is recalling more than 27,000 Cybertrucks because the rearview camera image may not activate immediately after shifting into reverse, the fifth recall for the vehicle since it went on sale late last year.
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An event was held in Ottawa to honour the victims on the anniversary of the worst attack against Jewish people since the Holocaust.
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Montreal students and supporters showed their grief and anger at protests and vigils as they marked the anniversary of the current war between Israel and Gaza.
Celine Dion introduced the marquee Dallas Cowboys - Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday Night Football game before getting drenched by orange Gatorade.
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A disgraced Winnipeg high school football coach convicted of sexual assault and luring will spend 20 years behind bars.
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The Saskatchewan NDP says the province's troubled payment and scheduling system for healthcare is only half implemented and has costed taxpayers nearly triple its original price tag so far.
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Saskatoon鈥檚 Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR) says a staff member arrived to work on Thursday morning to find someone at its doorstep, unresponsive from a suspected drug overdose.
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Saskatoon mayoral candidate Cynthia Block says the city needs a new deal with Ottawa to keep life affordable.
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Chrysler鈥檚 parent company, Stellantis, has filed nine lawsuits against the United Auto Workers (UAW) and 23 individual local units, saying the union violated its contract by threatening to strike over the company鈥檚 future plans.
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Lethbridge police say a man who escaped from a psychiatric ward at the Chinook Regional Hospital has been found.
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For decades, Mississauga First Nation has known that human remains from their land were at the Canadian Museum of History.
Greater Sudbury in partnership with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, is hosting the organization's annual mining conference.
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A mother in a community where the cost of living is one of the highest in the country says grocery prices are 'inhumane' and retailers are putting profits ahead of people鈥檚 basic human right to food.
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