Federal Court Rules ICE Can Continue to Imprison Immigrants Without Bond

"A divided federal appellate panel ruled Friday in favor of the Trump administration's policy of locking up most undocumented immigrants without bond, a decision that legal experts called a serious blow to due process. A three-judge panel of the right-wing 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled 2-1 that President Donald Trump's reversal of three decades of practice by previous administrations is legally sound under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 ( IIRIRA). The ruling reverses two lower court orders."

"Writing in dissent, Judge Dana M. Douglas, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, asserted that "the Congress that passed IIRIRA would be surprised to learn it had also required the detention without bond of two million people. For almost 30 years there was no sign anyone thought it had done so, and nothing in the congressional record or the history of the statute's enforcement suggests that it did.""

An appellate panel upheld a policy that bars bond release for most undocumented immigrants, interpreting the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to authorize widespread mandatory detention. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1, reversing lower court orders and eliminating release possibilities for tens of thousands detained in harsh conditions. The majority emphasized statutory text and asserted that prior administrations' restraint did not limit enforcement authority. A dissent warned that Congress likely did not intend mandatory detention of millions and noted the absence of congressional record supporting such an expansive interpretation.

Read at Truthout