Supreme Court Rules Appeals Courts Must Defer to Immigration Judges’ Decisions

The case came after a man from El Salvador, pursued by a hitman, applied for asylum and was denied.

Snow falls outside of the Supreme Court in Washington on March 2, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously on March 4 that federal appeals courts must give more weight to immigration judges’ decisions on what qualifies as persecution in adjudicating whether immigrants are entitled to asylum.

When an immigrant applies for asylum, a judge has to first determine the facts of the case, then decide if the threat of persecution in the applicant’s home country is credible. The Immigration and Nationality Act states that judges’ factual determinations in those cases are usually “conclusive.”