President Donald Trump’s administration can continue to detain immigrants without bond, marking a major legal victory for the federal immigration agenda and countering aΒ slew of recentΒ lower court decisions across the country that argued the practice is illegal.
A panel of judges on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday evening that the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to deny bond hearings to immigrants arrested across the country is consistent with the constitution and federal immigration law.
Specifically, circuit judge Edith H. Jones wrote in the 2-1 majority opinion that the government correctly interpreted the Immigration and Nationality Act by asserting that βunadmitted aliens apprehended anywhere in the United States are ineligible for release on bond, regardless of how long they have resided inside the United States.”
Under past administrations,Β most noncitizensΒ with no criminal recordΒ who were arrested awayΒ from the border had an opportunity to request a bond hearing while their cases wound through immigration court. Historically, bond was often granted to those without criminal convictions who were not flight risks, and mandatory detention was limited to recent border crossers.
“That prior Administrations decided to use less than their full enforcement authority under” the law βdoes not mean they lacked the authority to do more,β Jones wrote.
The plaintiffs in the two separate cases filed last year against the Trump administration were both Mexican nationals who had both lived in the United States for over 10 years and weren’t flight risks, their attorneys argued. Neither man had a criminal record, and both were jailed for months last year before a lower Texas court granted them bond in October.
The Trump White House reversed that policy in favor of mandatory detention in July, reversing almost 30 years of precedent under both Democrat and Republican administrations.
Friday’s ruling also bucksΒ a November district court decision in California, which granted detained immigrants with no criminal history the opportunity to request a bond hearing and had implications for noncitizens held in detention nationwide.
Circuit Judge Dana M. Douglas wrote the lone dissent in Friday’s decision.
The elected congress members who passed the Immigration and Nationality Act βwould be surprised to learn it had also required the detention without bond of two million people,β Douglas wrote, adding that many of the people detained are βthe spouses, mothers, fathers, and grandparents of American citizens.β
She went on to argue that the federal government was overriding the lawmaking process with DHS’ new immigration detention policy that denies detained immigrants bond.
βBecause I would reject the governmentβs invitation to rubber stamp its proposed legislation by executive fiat, I dissent,β Douglas wrote.
Douglas’ opinion echoed widespread tensions between the Trump administration and federal judges around the country,Β who have increasinglyΒ accused the administration of flouting court orders.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the decision as βa significant blow against activist judges who have been undermining our efforts to make America safe again at every turn.”
βWe will continue vindicating President Trumpβs law and order agenda in courtrooms across the country,β Bondi wrote on the social media platform X.
