{"id":2576018,"date":"2026-03-04T12:32:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T17:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-rules-that-courts-should-defer-to-immigration-judges-on-asylum-cases\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T12:37:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T17:37:33","slug":"scotus-rules-that-courts-should-defer-to-immigration-judges-on-asylum-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-rules-that-courts-should-defer-to-immigration-judges-on-asylum-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"SCOTUS: Courts Must Defer To Immigration Judges On Asylum"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fscotus-rules-that-courts-should-defer-to-immigration-judges-on-asylum-cases%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2576018&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that the appropriate standard of review for asylum-persecution determinations is the ample-evidence standard,giving deference to immigration judges\u2019 factual findings and their request of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The decision in Urias-Orellana v. bondi centered on Humberto Urias-Orellana, a Salvadoran national who entered the United States with his family in 2021 after facing violence in El Salvador and sought asylum. An immigration judge denied asylum, and both the board of Immigration Appeals and the 1st Circuit affirmed.<\/p>\n<p>In the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/editor-daily-rundown-unprecedented-supreme-court-leak-signals-end-of-roe-v-wade\/\" title=\"Editor Daily Rundown: Unprecedented ... Leak Signals End Of Roe V. Wade\">majority opinion written<\/a> by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the Court clarified that appellate courts must apply substantial-evidence review to the agency\u2019s persecution determinations, and that this review should cover the entire mixed determination\u2014the IJ\u2019s factual findings and the application of the statute to those findings. As a result, the Court affirmed the 1st Circuit\u2019s rejection of Urias-Orellana\u2019s petition, upholding the agency\u2019s conclusion that his claimed persecution did not meet the INA\u2019s standard for asylum.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Supreme_Court_Of_The_United_States_(193413861).jpeg\">Jesse Collins\/Wikimedia Commons\/<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\/deed.en\">CC BY 3.0<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/04\/scotus-rules-that-courts-should-defer-to-immigration-judges-on-asylum-cases\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=SCOTUS%20Rules%20That%20Courts%20Should%20Defer%20To%20Immigration%20Judges%20On%20Asylum%20Cases&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/04\/scotus-rules-that-courts-should-defer-to-immigration-judges-on-asylum-cases\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=SCOTUS%20Rules%20That%20Courts%20Should%20Defer%20To%20Immigration%20Judges%20On%20Asylum%20Cases&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/04\/scotus-rules-that-courts-should-defer-to-immigration-judges-on-asylum-cases\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/04\/scotus-rules-that-courts-should-defer-to-immigration-judges-on-asylum-cases\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=SCOTUS%20Rules%20That%20Courts%20Should%20Defer%20To%20Immigration%20Judges%20On%20Asylum%20Cases&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/04\/scotus-rules-that-courts-should-defer-to-immigration-judges-on-asylum-cases\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously sided with the Trump administration on Wednesday in a dispute over the standard for reviewing the cases of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >illegal aliens seeking asylum<\/a> in the United States. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We granted certiorari to determine whether the Court of Appeals applied the appropriate standard of review under the[[<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscis.gov\/laws-and-policy\/legislation\/immigration-and-nationality-act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Immigration and Nationality Act<\/a>]INA. We conclude that the statute requires application of the substantial-evidence standard to the agency&rsquo;s conclusion that a given set of undisputed facts does not constitute persecution. Accordingly, we affirm,&rdquo; Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/25pdf\/24-777_9ol1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a> for the court. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1053821345\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Known as <em>Urias-Orellana v. Bondi<\/em>, the case <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/09\/30\/the-federalists-guide-to-the-2025-supreme-court-term\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">centers around<\/a> Salvadoran national Humberto Urias-Orellana, who fled his country alongside his family and illegally entered the United States in 2021 after reportedly facing violence in El Salvador. After being designated for removal by federal officials, Urias-Orellana sought asylum under the argument that he and his family faced persecution in El Salvador &mdash; claims which were rejected by an immigration judge (IJ).<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/media-lie-about-deported-maryland-fathers-legal-status\/\" title=\"Media Lie About Deported &#039;Maryland Father&#039;s&#039; Legal Status\">immigration judge&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s determinations that the alleged violence Urias-Orellana faced did not amount to persecution, and therefore, he did not qualify for asylum, were later affirmed by the Board of Immigration Appeals and the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals. (Immigration judges and the BIA fall under the executive branch.)<\/p>\n<p>Writing for the court, Jackson noted that while the courts of appeals &ldquo;apply varying standards to the agency&rsquo;s persecution determination,&rdquo; the Supreme Court has &ldquo;already concluded that these determinations receive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-appears-willing-to-side-with-trump-in-asylum-dispute\/\" title=\"SCOTUS Appears Willing To Side With Trump In ... Dispute\">substantial evidence review<\/a>.&rdquo; (As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/substantial_evidence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">described<\/a> by Cornell Law School, substantial evidence review is used by appellate courts to &ldquo;to review an&nbsp;administrative agency&rsquo;s&nbsp;actions&rdquo; and &ldquo;look to the entire existing administrative&nbsp;record&nbsp;and ask whether it contains&nbsp;evidence&nbsp;sufficient to support the agency&rsquo;s factual determinations.&rdquo;)<\/p>\n<p>Put another way, the high court ruled that the factual findings by the executive&rsquo;s immigration courts on whether an asylum seeker&rsquo;s persecution claims satisfy the INA&rsquo;s persecution standard should receive deference from the judicial branch. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;With their focus on the metaphorical trees, we think petitioners have missed the forest. It is certainly true that the required persecution determination turns on more than just the facts: The INA&rsquo;s legal standard for &lsquo;persecution&rsquo; must be applied to the IJ&rsquo;s findings of fact,&rdquo; Jackson wrote. &ldquo;But [our precedents] and the subsequent statutory history suggest that Congress meant for the entirety of this kind of &lsquo;mixed&rsquo; determination &mdash; including both the IJ&rsquo;s factual findings and the application of the statute to those findings &mdash; to receive deference under [federal law].&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The court concluded that the 1st Circuit &ldquo;applied the appropriate standard&rdquo; under the law &ldquo;when it reviewed the agency persecution determination for substantial evidence.&rdquo; As such, Jackson surmised, the appellate court&rsquo;s rejection of Urias-Orellana&rsquo;s petition &ldquo;is affirmed.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Shawn Fleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShawnFleetwood\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@ShawnFleetwood<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/shawnfleetwood\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/asylum\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">asylum<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/illegal-immigration\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Illegal Immigration<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/immigration\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Immigration<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ketanji-brown-jackson\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Ketanji Brown Jackson<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/persecution\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">persecution<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/scotus\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">SCOTUS<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/supreme-court\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Supreme Court<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/trump-administration\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Trump Administration<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/urias-orellana-v-bondi\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Urias-Orellana v. Bondi<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SCOTUS backs Trump on asylum-review standard<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2576019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SCOTUS.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[6560,10123,75069,3813,6994],"class_list":["post-2576018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-asylum","tag-courts","tag-deference-2","tag-immigration","tag-scotus"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SCOTUS.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2576018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2576018"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2576018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2576022,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2576018\/revisions\/2576022"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2576019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2576018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2576018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2576018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}