The Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider President Donald Trump's ban on asylum at the southern border, a pillar of the Republican president's far-reaching crackdown on immigration.

The Trump administration wants to overturn lower court decisions that found the executive order banning asylum applications is illegal.

Federal law gives people the right to seek asylum if they fear persecution in their home countries, no matter how they arrived in the U.S. At the same time, it also allows the executive branch to decide whether people are granted asylum.