Courts and Immigration Detention

In a 2–1 decision, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Trump administration’s July policy allowing DHS to deny bond hearings to many immigration detainees nationwide, with the majority (Judge Edith H. Jones) holding that “unadmitted aliens apprehended anywhere in the United States are ineligible for release on bond.” The ruling, which reverses nearly 30 years of practice of granting bond to many non‑criminal interior arrestees, involved two lead plaintiffs — Mexican nationals with more than 10 years’ U.S. residence and no criminal records who had won bond below — drew a sharp dissent from Judge Dana M. Douglas and was hailed by Attorney General Pam Bondi.