In a major victory for the Trump administration, the Supreme Court on Wednesday decided it would allow the federal government to fully enforce a new policy banning asylum for those who cross through Mexico before reaching the southern border while a legal challenge to the rule moves forward in the courts.

The Department of Justice had asked the Supreme Court to put on hold an injunction entered by US District Judge Jon Tigar earlier this week that blocked the policy across the country.



The regulation makes anyone traveling through Mexico by land to the southern border ineligible for asylum if they did not first seek protection before reaching the US. Immigrants could attempt to receive protection through a process that would be much more difficult.

The vast majority of the 688,375 immigrants apprehended at the southern border this year have traveled from Central America through Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of Central Americans and others were expected to be affected by the restrictions that went into place in July.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor from the liberal wing of the court dissented in the ruling Wednesday. At least five justices have to vote to approve a stay, but the court does not publish the breakdown of how each justice voted.

The Supreme Court's order represents a major victory for the Trump administration, which has seen a number of its expansive policies restricting immigration and asylum blocked in the courts, prompting the president to take a victory lap on Twitter.

The one-paragraph order did not include an explanation for the court's decision. The government's appeal of Tigar’s injunction will now go forward before the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.



"This is just a temporary step, and we’re hopeful we’ll prevail at the end of the day," said Lee Gelernt, an ACLU attorney on the case. "The lives of thousands of families are at stake."

The decision by the high court is just the latest in a long line of back-and-forth rulings on the matter.