The Trump administration cannot hold immigrants indefinitely without the chance to apply for bond, according to a Tuesday ruling from a federal appeals court. The panel expressed 'serious constitutional questions' about the policy, which they argued would have established an unprecedented mass-detention system for millions of people.
By blocking the order, the court prevented what it described as the most expansive mandate of its kind in the history of the country.
Court Rejects Detention Mandate
A collective decision from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City has paved the way for a likely showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court. This comes after judges in the 5th and 8th circuits chose to support the rules established by the Trump administration last summer, creating a direct legal conflict between different regions of the country.
ENRAGING: The 2nd Circuit Appeals Court in New York has BLOCKED ICE’s mandatory detention policy for illegal immigrants facing deportation.
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) April 28, 2026
“The unanimous decision says the policy goes against laws in the books for decades regarding whether illegal immigrants must be detained… pic.twitter.com/2zeUATKeq5
Judicial Split Over Law
Judge Joseph F. Bianco, writing for a panel that featured Judges Alison J. Nathan and Jose A. Cabranes, noted that while the court was diverging from two other circuits, it was siding with the vast majority of federal judges in the country.
Bianco remarked, 'Today, although we part ways with two other circuits that have addressed this question, we join the overwhelming majority of federal judges across the Nation to consider it and conclude that the government's novel interpretation of the immigration statute defies their plain text.'
Through this rule, the Department of Homeland Security has refused bond hearings for migrants detained nationwide, even those residing in the US for a long time with clean records. This marks a shift from the methods of past governments, where the majority of individuals without criminal pasts caught away from the frontier could ask for a bond hearing as their legal proceedings progressed.
During those instances, bond was frequently allowed for individuals not considered likely to flee, while compulsory custody was reserved only for those who had recently arrived in the nation.
Pressure on Federal Courts
This fresh strategy has burdened the federal judiciary, as judges nationwide deal with over 30,000 legal challenges from individuals detained during the Trump administration's broad removal drive. Since they are unable to ask for a bond within the immigration court system, many migrants have sought relief from federal courts by filing what is called a habeas corpus petition.
Lawyers representing the Trump administration argue that the compulsory custody rule is permitted by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. While that legislation simplified the removal of people reaching the US without authorisation, those already living in the country maintained the right to apply for a bond through an immigration judge under separate legal provisions.
The situation shifted last July after Todd Lyons, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, announced that every immigrant facing removal would be handled in the same manner as those who had just reached the country.
Legal Rights and Security
The trio of judges concluded that the administration's reading of the 1996 statute contradicts the actual wording of the legislation, its intended goal, and its background. They pointed out that lawmakers had established a multi-level framework for immigration matters, which partially depends on the length of time an individual has resided in the US.
Amy Belsher, the New York Civil Liberties Union's director of Immigrants' Rights Litigation, stated that the decision correctly confirms the government's strategy of holding people without legal procedure is illegal. 'Today's ruling rightly affirms that the Trump administration's policy of detaining immigrants without any process is unlawful and cannot stand,' she said.
'The government cannot mandatorily detain millions of noncitizens, many of whom have lived here for decades, without an opportunity to seek release. It defies the Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and basic human decency.'
The Department of Homeland Security sent an email to The Associated Press referencing a Board of Immigration Appeals decision that supports the compulsory custody rule. In the message, the department noted that Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin 'are now enforcing this law as it was actually written to keep America safe.'
'Regarding decisions from federal courts about mandatory detention, judicial activists have been repeatedly overruled by the Supreme Court on these questions. ICE has the law and the facts on its side and will be vindicated by higher courts,' DHS said.
