Appeals court greenlights Trump admin policy of detaining undocumented immigrants without opportunity to seek release

A federal appeals court ruled Friday in favor of the Trump administration’s policy of detaining undocumented immigrants, even those with long-term U.S. residency, without bond hearings, marking a significant victory for the administration as it pursues increased deportations.

Immigration Detention Policy Upheld

The 2-1 ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allows for the detention of immigrants in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi who are in the country illegally, including those previously released on bond while their cases were processed. This decision reverses previous rulings by federal judges who had consistently deemed the policy unlawful.

The policy reverses decades of executive branch practice, which had generally allowed noncitizens without criminal records to be released on bond while their immigration cases proceeded. Previously, those apprehended at the border were treated differently, often facing expedited removal proceedings without bond hearings.

“There’s a reason why, across more than three thousand cases in dozens of federal district courts, the Trump administration decided to have its first appeal of a loss on this issue go to the Fifth Circuit,” said Steve Vladeck, a CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at Georgetown University Law Center. “The Fifth Circuit isn’t just the most right-leaning appeals court in the country; the government drew on this panel two of that right-leaning court’s most right-leaning judges. It’s hard to imagine they’re going to get the last word.”

Judges Edith Jones, appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, and Kyle Duncan, a Trump appointee, formed the majority. They argued that the administration was within its authority to change prior policies regarding bond for detained immigrants. Jones wrote that past administrations choosing to use less of their enforcement authority did not mean they lacked the authority to do more.

Judge Dana Douglas, appointed by former President Joe Biden, dissented, warning that the ruling could lead to the detention without bond of up to two million noncitizens currently in the U.S. She argued the majority’s decision disregarded established distinctions within immigration law.

“The government today asserts the authority and mandate to detain millions of noncitizens in the interior, some of them present here for decades, on the same terms as if they were apprehended at the border,” Douglas wrote. “No matter that this newly discovered mandate arrives without historical precedent, and in the teeth of one of the core distinctions of immigration law.”

The ruling is expected to prompt further legal challenges, potentially leading to a showdown at the Supreme Court, as other appeals courts continue to examine the policy.