The Trump administration is seeking help from the Supreme Court as it tries to prevent illegal immigrants from being granted asylum.

According to The Hill, Solicitor General Noel Francisco formally requested Tuesday the nation's high court look at the situation after a district court judge blocked a directive that would stop people who illegally came to the U.S. from requesting asylum status.

"The nationwide injunction prohibits the executive branch from implementing an interim final rule adopted to address an ongoing crisis at the southern border, with significant implications for ongoing diplomatic negotiations and foreign relations," Francisco wrote in Tuesday's court filing addressed to Justice Elena Kagan.

Last month, District Court Judge Jon Tigar ordered the government not to enforce the asylum directive first issued by President Donald Trump on Nov. 9 as a caravan of migrants was making its way from Central America to the United States.

"Whatever the scope of the president's authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden," Tigar wrote at the time.

Tigar's decision came amid fierce opposition to the asylum ban from several groups.

"Respondents lack Article III standing because they are not aliens seeking to challenge the rule directly, but advocacy groups — essentially, lawyers represented by other lawyers — that claim injury based on their purported need to devote resources to adapt to the new policy and speculation about how the rule will affect their funding," Francisco wrote.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.