Fifth Circuit Stays Rulings That Freed Texas Immigrants, Handing Trump a Win on Mandatory Detention

In a brief July 21, 2026 order, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed three Texas district-court rulings that had freed immigrants, including men with no criminal record, held under the administration's mandatory-detention policy. The stay applies across Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, and the next hearing is set for September 24. A Justice Department official called the order "precedential," while the American Immigration Council, which represented the immigrants, disputed that characterization, calling it "an unreasoned stay order."

The policy, set out in a July 2025 ICE memo, requires detention without bond for many immigrants who entered the country illegally, regardless of how long ago or whether they have sought asylum. Courts have split sharply: a California class action and a Nevada court found the policy unconstitutional, appeals courts covering ten states have ruled against it absent a nationwide class, and the 8th Circuit has upheld it. The conflict is widely expected to reach the Supreme Court in its fall term.

The stay keeps the affected immigrants detained pending appeal, with the Supreme Court likely to resolve the policy's legality.