The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way Thursday for the Trump administration to revive a more restrictive border policy and to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for certain migrants.

The court ruled 6-3 in both major migration cases, Mullin v. Al Otro Lado and Mullin v. Doe. In the first case, the court held that migrants turned away at the border before entering the U.S. have no right to apply for asylum. The second determined that Haitian and Syrian illegal migrants holding TPS status cannot obtain judicial relief delaying the revocation of that status while related litigation proceeds in court.

Justice Samuel Alito delivered the opinion of the court in both cases. Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented in both cases.

“An alien standing in Mexico does not ‘arriv[e] in the United States’ by attempting, and failing, to set foot in this country. An alien ‘arrives in the United States’ only when he crosses the border,” Alito wrote. “Everyday examples confirm that understanding. A running back does not arrive in the end zone when he reaches the 1-yard line. A guest does not arrive in a house when he knocks on the front door. An army does not arrive in a city by encamping outside its walls. And a letter does not arrive in a mailbox while it remains in the mail carrier’s hand just inches away.”

Mullin v. Al Otro Lado overturned an October 2024 Ninth Circuit ruling that said once migrants encountered a U.S. official, they had effectively “arrived in” the U.S. and were therefore entitled to apply for asylum, even if they remained on the Mexico side of the border.

Many illegal migrants from certain countries of origin enjoyed deportation protections under Biden-era TPS orders, which the Trump administration argued were being abused and exploited.

“Respondents and the courts below offer no sound theories to overcome the plain meaning of the judicial-review bar,” Alito wrote. “In these cases, we consider whether respondents, who challenge the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for aliens from Syria and Haiti, are entitled to orders postponing the terminations during litigation. We hold that they are not.”