Fifth Circuit Bars Prolonged Immigration Detention Without a Bond Hearing

On July 2, 2026, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled 2-1 that the federal government cannot hold longtime undocumented residents for more than 90 days without offering a bond hearing, rejecting a Trump administration policy adopted in July 2025 that directed immigration agents to detain such immigrants until deportation. Judge Leslie H. Southwick, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote that within 90 days the government must articulate an individualized justification for continued detention without bond. The case arose from three men arrested in Texas who had each lived in the United States for at least 14 years.

The ruling turns on whether noncitizens who have established long-term ties in the country retain due-process protections against indefinite confinement while removal proceedings play out. It arrives amid a historic surge in habeas corpus petitions challenging detentions under the policy.

The decision deepens a split among the federal appeals courts — by the Texas Tribune's count, four circuits have ruled against the policy and two have upheld it — and immigration lawyers expect the issue to reach the Supreme Court. The Department of Homeland Security said it disagreed with the ruling and was confident in its legal position.