The U.S. Supreme Court will decide a case next year that may restrict the ability of the executive branch to use expedited procedures in some asylum cases. At issue is whether asylum seekers may challenge the procedures used by immigration officials to deny an asylum application.

In Department of Homeland Security (DHS) v. Thuraissigiam, the U.S. Supreme Court will review a decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that allowed a man to challenge in court the expedited procedures that an immigration judge and other executive branch officials used to deny his asylum application.

DHS argues that people who apply to enter and stay in the United States are only entitled to the procedural rights Congress grants to them. The agency also argued that the administrative procedures followed by officials in this case were adequate. Thuraissigiam’s lawyers disagreed, arguing that expedited removal procedures “drastically limit the administrative and judicial review that is ordinarily available.”

Allowing Thuraissigiam to sue in court “hinders the Trump administration’s desire to more quickly deport undocumented immigrants after their requests for asylum have been denied,” according to reporter Robert Barnes writing for The Washington Post. “If full habeas review does not cover expedited-removal cases, ICE agents may soon be able to seize immigrants anywhere in the U.S. and hustle them out of the country without any meaningful procedures,” according to writer Garrett Epps at The Atlantic, discussing the potential impact of the case.

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral argument in this case on March 2, 2020.

To learn more about the case and adjudication in the administrative state, click here.