SC Clears The Way for Asylum Restrictions to Take Effect
KING: The Trump White House is celebrating a Supreme Court victory that allows it to dramatically limit asylum request. The policy is being challenged in federal courts, but the highest court yesterday said the administration can enforce the new rules while the challenge proceeds in the lower courts. The policy aimed at sharply reducing asylum requests at the U.S.-Mexico border by requiring any migrant passing through another country en route to the United States to stop and make the asylum request there. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor issued a strong dissent to this decision arguing the ruling, quote, topples decades of settled asylum practices without affording the public a chance to weigh in. CNN's Supreme Court Analyst Joan Biskupic is here with us. Let's go first to the policies. So the Trump administration gets a green light in the meantime as the challenge continues through the lower court. This is a conservative court telling a Republican White House, go ahead.</s>JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Yes, this really was a big win for the administration. And it shows another example of this Supreme Court ruling favorably in this order on immigration and asylum matters for the administration and brushing back lower court judges who've tried to rein in the administration. Now, this was not a decision on the merits but the justices had to weigh the harm to each side when it decided, should this policy take effect. And challengers had said this is going to upend four decades of refugee -- of asylum policy to do this. And it would affect even unaccompanied children at the border, you know -- and it was done so hastily according to the challengers</s>KING: Yes. So I want to come back to the bigger theme in a minute but on this particular ruling, you mentioned Ginsburg and Sotomayor. They say, "Lower courts' decisions warrant respect. Granting a stay pending appeal should be an extraordinary act. Unfortunately, it appears the government has treated this exceptional mechanism as a new normal. Historically, the government has made this kind of request rarely, now it does so reflectively." We know the president and we know that relatively new attorney general Bill Barr complained constantly about the lower court. Is that just the liberal complaining because they're on the losing side or the numbers back that up? Or is this administration goes to the Supreme Court essentially as an injunction court instead of being the last word?</s>BISKUPIC: The numbers back it up. And John, why wouldn't they keep coming to this court? Because they have been slapped back attached by this court but mainly the courts sort of had the welcome mat out for this. And on immigration asylum policies, you remember just in July this Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to go ahead and use Pentagon money to build a wall, and last year, five to four conservative-liberal ruling upheld the president's travel ban.</s>KING: Upheld the travel ban, upheld religious freedom in Colorado, struck down a California law, more liberalizing abortion policy. Upheld Texas electoral districts, upheld Ohio voter rule purges. I just -- you point out the examples because if anyone out there, you know, thought, you know, that this was going to move any other way, the president has had two new appointees confirmed to the Supreme Court. John Roberts not exactly a fire</s>BISKUPIC: You know, that's exactly right. And the other thing that's interesting is, who is exactly the voice of the liberal side? In this ruling, the two justices on the far left were the only ones that made their voices heard, Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg. Justice Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, if they dissented, they did not want to tell the public.</s>KING: New court term not that far away.</s>BISKUPIC: That's right, first Monday in October.</s>KING: First Monday of October. How would you know that, Joan? You have been thinking about the date, have you?</s>BISKUPIC: My favorite day.</s>KING: Going to be interesting. Your favorite day. OK. All right, Joan, appreciate the insights. Up next for us, Mike Pompeo in the running for another job. And we're not talking about a Senate seat in Kansas.