Disagreements between Supreme Court justices bubble into public view as major rulings loom

By — Lindsay Whitehurst, Associated Press Lindsay Whitehurst, Associated Press By — Fatima Hussein, Associated Press Fatima Hussein, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/disagreements-between-supreme-court-justices-bubble-into-public-view-as-major-rulings-loom Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Disagreements between Supreme Court justices bubble into public view as major rulings loom Politics Jun 26, 2026 1:21 PM EDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is handing down major opinions at a rapid clip, but even with some of the biggest decisions yet to come there are signs of tension between the justices. One highly unusual exchange for the restrained and traditional atmosphere came Thursday, as the members of the nation's highest court took the bench as usual to read a short summary of their decisions. Those rulings included two major immigration wins for President Donald Trump. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. After conservative Justice Samuel Alito finished his reading of the majority's ruling limiting how people can seek asylum at the southern border, liberal Sonia Sotomayor spoke up to read from her strident dissent. She traced the difficult journey many asylum seekers face and outlined a painful chapter in the country's history: When the U.S. and other countries turned back a ship full of Jewish refugees attempting to flee persecution in Nazi Germany in 1939. About 250 of those passengers later died in the Holocaust. Sotomayor said the majority's opinion would allow the Trump administration to block people from applying for asylum at the border, which would result in more deaths. The decision "regrettably and tragically extinguishes the light of the torch of the Statue of Liberty." WATCH: Analyzing the Supreme Court decisions on immigration, gun control and Monsanto Justice Brett Kavanaugh watched her intently as she spoke, while Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson looked straight ahead. Majority opinions are always read from the bench and dissenters can speak up as well to underscore their objections, which typically happens in few cases every term. More rulings are expected on Monday. Sotomayor's spoken dissent, however, appeared to be a surprise for Alito. In a very rare move, he spoke off the cuff. He sounded surprised and frustrated, saying he would have added more detail to his summary if he'd known about plans to speak. WATCH: How the Supreme Court immigration rulings could impact asylum in the U.S. For the conservative majority, the case was about whether border officials can delay asylum seekers' entry into the U.S. "until they can be processed in a safe and orderly way." Out loud, Alito defended his opinion by noting that the policy at the center of the case had been used under both the Obama and Trump administrations. "I won't add anything more to that," he