5th Circuit Upholds Mandatory Immigrant Detention

A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that the Trump administration may detain immigrants who entered the United States illegally without providing them bond hearings, upholding a policy that expands mandatory detention during deportation proceedings. The 2-1 decision by a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans reversed lower court orders and marks the first time an appeals court has endorsed the government's reinterpretation of immigration law on this issue.

The ruling centered on two Mexican nationals, Victor Buenrostro-Mendez and Jose Padron Covarrubias, who had lived in the U.S. for years and challenged their detention after immigration judges denied them bond. Both had successfully argued in district courts that they were entitled to hearings to seek release while their cases proceeded. U.S. Circuit Judge Edith H. Jones, writing for the majority alongside Judge Kyle Duncan, both appointees of Republican presidents, found that the men qualified as "applicants for admission" under federal law, subjecting them to mandatory detention without bond.

The decision interprets Section 235(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by the 1996...