Supreme Court questions what it means to be 'in' the US

A fight at the Supreme Court over the government's power to block asylum seekers from reaching ports along the Mexican border may come down to the definition of the word "in.".

There were some prickly moments as the justices heard arguments Tuesday about the legality of a "metering" policy the Obama administration experimented with — and the first Trump administration adopted more broadly — under which Customs and Border Protection agents turned back asylum seekers at the Mexican border.

A federal judge in San Diego and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the practice is illegal because federal law entitles any foreigner who is "physically present in the United States [or] arrives in the United States" to pursue an asylum claim.