Federal appeals court upholds Trump mass detention policy for illegal immigrants

A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the Trump administration's mass detention policy, allowing illegal immigrants to be detained without bond.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can lawfully deny bond hearings to immigrants arrested nationwide under the Constitution and federal immigration law.

Attorney General Pam Bondi reacted to the ruling, saying the Department of Justice (DOJ) "secured yet another crucial legal victory" in support of President Donald Trump's immigration agenda.

"The Fifth Circuit just held illegal aliens can rightfully be detained without bond — a significant blow against activist judges who have been undermining our efforts to make America safe again at every turn," she wrote on X. "Thank you to Ben Hayes who argued this case, Brett Shumate and the @DOJCivil Division. We will continue vindicating President Trump’s law and order agenda in courtrooms across the country."

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Circuit judge Edith H. Jones wrote in the majority opinion that "unadmitted aliens apprehended anywhere in the United States are ineligible for release on bond, regardless of how long they have resided inside the United States."

Many illegal immigrants who were not detained at the border previously had the opportunity to request a bond hearing as their cases progressed, and those without a criminal history who were not deemed flight risks were often granted bond.

"That prior Administrations decided to use less than their full enforcement authority under" the law "does not mean they lacked the authority to do more," Jones wrote.

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Writing in dissent, Circuit Judge Dana M. Douglas said that the members of Congress who passed the Immigration and Nationality Act roughly 30 years ago "would be surprised to learn it had also required the detention without bond of two million people."

Douglas noted that some of the people detained are "the spouses, mothers, fathers, and grandparents of American citizens."

The ruling stems from two separate cases filed last year against the Trump administration, both involving Mexican nationals who had lived in the U.S. for more than a decade and were not considered flight risks, according to their attorneys.

Although they did not have criminal records, both were jailed for months last year before a lower court in Texas granted them bond last October.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.