WASHINGTON _ The Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow nationwide enforcement of a new rule that would sharply limit who can apply for asylum at the Mexican border.
The administration on Monday called on the justices to put on hold a ruling that prevents the new rule from taking effect in California and Arizona.
The policy is aimed at curbing applications from people who travel to the U.S. through Mexico from Central America. Under the rule, put in place July 16, people crossing the southern border can't seek asylum unless they previously applied for protection from one of the countries they passed through.
A federal trial judge blocked the rule. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed that order, so that it applies only in the states within that court's jurisdiction, including California and Arizona.
