The Supreme Court will review a Trump administration policy issued in July 2025 that directs ICE to detain certain undocumented immigrants without bond hearings for the length of removal proceedings. The change reverses a long-standing practice and has produced conflicting rulings among federal appeals courts. The case—centering on a 2nd Circuit decision involving a Brazilian national arrested in Massachusetts—could affect millions and is scheduled for argument at the start of the Court's new term.
Supreme Court To Decide Whether ICE Can Detain Immigrants Without Bond Hearings
The US Supreme Court will take up the case when its new term starts on Monday [File: Cheney Orr/Reuters]
The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to a Trump administration policy that directs Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain undocumented immigrants without bond hearings for the duration of their removal proceedings.
Background
In July 2025, the administration issued guidance instructing federal immigration officials to hold certain noncitizens in custody without offering bond hearings while their deportation cases are pending—procedures that can take years. The change reverses a decades-long interpretation that had allowed some people living in the U.S. to seek release on bond while their cases proceed.
Legal Question And Circuit Split
The central legal question is whether migrants apprehended inside the United States are entitled under federal law to a bond hearing in which a judge can determine whether continued detention is warranted while removal proceedings continue. Federal appeals courts are divided: most circuits have held that detainees are entitled to bond hearings, but the 5th and 8th Circuits have ruled that some people who entered or remained without admission can be held without bond.
Administration attorneys say the split is "disrupting the orderly administration of immigration law," arguing that inconsistent rulings create an "unworkable patchwork" of enforcement across circuits.
The Case Before The Court
The Supreme Court review stems from a 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision involving Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha, a Brazilian national who entered the United States in the mid-2000s. Immigration officers arrested him in September 2025 while he was driving to work in Massachusetts. Under the administration guidance he was initially denied a bond hearing but was later released on bond, according to court filings.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which represents the plaintiffs, says the administration is attempting to bar bond hearings for immigrants apprehended inside the country, not just those stopped at the border, and warns that "millions of noncitizens could be affected" by the new interpretation.
What Comes Next
The justices accepted the case on Thursday and are scheduled to hear arguments at the start of the Court's new term on Monday. A decision could resolve the circuit split and determine whether the government can broadly withhold bond hearings from noncitizens detained inland while their immigration cases proceed—potentially affecting immigration enforcement nationwide.
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