A federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that U. S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot detain migrants for more than 90 days without providing an opportunity for a bond hearing during pending deportation proceedings.
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The 2-1 decision by the 5th U. S.
Circuit Court of Appeals directly impacts thousands of individuals held across Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi under the Trump administration's expanded mass detention policies.
Writing for the court majority, U. S.
Circuit Judge Leslie Southwick emphasized that constitutional due process protections apply to long-term residents inside the country regardless of their legal status.
"The Government may detain aliens under Section 1225(b)(2)(A) for 90 days but no longer without a bond hearing," wrote Judge Southwick.
The ruling stems from a legal challenge brought by three fathers from Mexico and Honduras who had resided in the United States for over a decade without any criminal history before being detained at traffic stops.
"It is part of the historic majesty of this long-ago founding charter that it makes no exceptions in providing basic rights to those within our boundaries, including a right to be heard when personal liberty is taken," wrote Judge Southwick.
The majority noted that these specific individuals faced prolonged custody without an individualized assessment of whether they posed a flight risk or danger to the community.
"These three aliens, who many years ago entered this country without inspection and have been residing here for years, who have no criminal history, and who, as far as we have been informed, have not yet been subject to a removal order, would today have been detained by immigration authorities for an unreasonable time absent the district courts' intervention," wrote Judge Southwick.
