Federal Courts and Immigration Detention

In a 2–1 March 26, 2026 decision, the Eighth Circuit upheld the Trump administration’s nationwide policy allowing DHS to detain certain noncitizens without bond, ruling that an “applicant for admission” is an alien “seeking admission” and therefore falls within mandatory‑detention statutes — overturning a Minnesota district judge’s order granting a bond hearing to Joaquin Herrera Avila, a longtime Minnesota resident arrested in August 2025 for lacking legal documents. Judge Ralph Erickson’s dissent warned the majority’s “novel interpretation” sweeps in “millions of others” and narrows habeas protections; the ruling, the second appeals‑court decision after the Fifth Circuit to sustain the no‑bond policy, drew celebratory comment from Attorney General Pam Bondi even as some district courts have reached contrary conclusions.