On September 19, 2017, Noel Francisco was confirmed by the United States Senate by a vote of 50-47 to serve as the Solicitor General of the United States [link].1 As Solicitor General, Noel Francisco will be the government’s lead lawyer in arguments before the Supreme Court of the United States. We discussed the Francisco nomination and his resume in a previous blog [see blog]. To learn about upcoming immigration cases in which Noel Francisco will be representing the government, please see our blog on the subject [see blog].
Supreme Court Holds That Asylum Seekers Turned Back at the Border Have Not “Arrived in the United States”: A Practitioner’s Analysis of Mullin v. Al Otro Lado
July 21, 2026
On June 25, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States, by a vote of six to three, reversed and remanded a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and held that a noncitizen who stands on the Mexican side of the United States-Mexico border, and who is physically prevented from setting foot on United States soil, has not “arrived in the United States” within the meaning of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
