By CEDAR ATTANASIO and JULIE WATSON
Associated Press

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court's clearing of the way for the Trump administration to deny nearly all asylum claims from Central Americans is being denounced by immigration advocates as a "death sentence" for migrants trying to escape poverty and violence in their homelands.

The new policy would disallow asylum for anyone who passes through another country on the way to the U.S. without first seeking asylum there.

Late Wednesday, the Supreme Court gave the go-ahead to enforce the rule while legal challenges to it continue.

Migrants who make their way to the U.S. overland from places like Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador would be largely ineligible under the new rule, along with asylum seekers from Africa, Asia and South America who arrive at the U.S.-Mexican border.

The Trump administration is calling it a "big victory" in its effort to stem the surge of migrants.

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