According to the appellate court’s ruling, immigrants in detention do not have a constitutional right to be released on bail

LOS ANGELES:- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled on Friday that immigrants who enter the United States illegally do not have a constitutional right to a bond hearing to challenge their detention.

The hearings address *habeas corpus* petitions, which compel the government to produce a prisoner and justify their continued detention. These petitions also provide the prisoner an opportunity to challenge their detention by alleging a violation of federally protected rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

In its *en banc* (full court) ruling, a 10–7 majority of the Fifth Circuit Court overturned a 2–1 decision previously issued by its own panel in July, which had held that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cannot constitutionally detain immigrants for more than 90 days without a *habeas corpus* hearing.

The panel ruled that the Trump administration’s policy—based on a reinterpretation of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, as presented in a memorandum issued to ICE personnel in July 2025—constitutes an unconstitutional violation of due process rights by allowing for indefinite detention.

A panel of the Fifth Circuit Court, in a July 2026 ruling, overturned a February 2026 decision by a different panel of the same court. The panel upheld a new detention policy, determining that immigrants who enter the United States illegally are “applicants for admission” and are not entitled to bond hearings, regardless of how long they have resided in the country.

On October 1, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge regarding mandatory, indefinite detention—without bond hearings—for immigrants who enter the United States illegally. In contrast to the Fifth Circuit, nine U.S. circuit courts have ruled in favor of immigrants on this issue.

Writing for the majority in the recent ruling, Judge Cory Wilson stated, “To the extent that the petitioners seek to vindicate an interest in liberty—in the most abstract sense—to be free from physical restraint, they can do so at any time by agreeing to leave the country.”

In his dissent, Judge Leslie Southwick wrote that the government must demonstrate a valid reason for holding someone in custody, stating, “The majority argues that, due to the unlawful presence of these individuals, there is no fundamental interest in freedom from physical restraint. I cannot agree.”

A recent ProPublica report reveals that, during the first 13 months of the second Trump administration, immigrants have filed more detention-related cases than the combined total from the previous three administrations—including the first Trump administration. For some detainees, conditions in custody—such as limited food, a lack of hot water, and indefinite waiting periods—have become reasons for requesting deportation.

Although the Fifth Circuit Court’s ruling applies only to the three states within its jurisdiction (Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas), the Trump administration has transferred many detained immigrants to detention centers in Texas.