US Supreme Court to review Trump policy denying immigrant bond hearings

The US Supreme Court will examine whether the Trump administration can deny bond hearings to detained immigrants. The ruling could reshape detention rules for millions contesting deportation across the country.

In Short

• Nine federal circuits say prolonged detention without hearings breaches immigration law
• Fifth and Eighth circuits backed mandatory detention during pending deportation cases
• Trump administration says conflicting rulings have created uneven enforcement nationwide

The US Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to review a Trump administration policy that denies bond hearings to immigrants as the government carries out a broad immigration crackdown. The justices will examine whether immigrants who have been living in the US have a right to a hearing to decide if they should remain in detention while they challenge possible deportation.

The case comes amid a split among federal appeals courts. Judges in nine of the 11 federal circuits have held that detaining immigrants without a bond hearing violates federal law, while the 5th and 8th circuits have ruled that immigrants accused of entering and remaining in the US illegally must stay in detention while their deportation cases are pending.

Lawyers for President Donald Trump's administration told the court that the split is 'disrupting the orderly administration of immigration law'. They said courts across the country have been flooded with thousands of petitions from immigrants challenging the government's interpretation of the law.

'The result is an unworkable patchwork of inconsistent immigration enforcement, where aliens present without admission are subject to mandatory detention in some circuits but are entitled to bond hearings and often released in others,' administration lawyers wrote.

The plaintiffs are immigrants represented by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU said hundreds of district court judges have joined most circuits in rejecting the administration's new reading of the statutes. Lawyers for the plaintiffs said the administration is seeking to deny bond hearings to immigrants arrested anywhere in the US, regardless of how long they have lived there, instead of limiting the restriction to non-citizens stopped at the border.

'Millions of noncitizens could be affected by the government's new interpretation,' ACLU lawyers wrote.

The Trump administration has argued that its new mandatory detention policy is permitted under a 1996 immigration law. The change marks a departure from earlier administrations, which usually allowed most non-citizens without criminal records to seek a bond hearing if they were arrested away from the border. The Supreme Court's review will now decide whether such immigrants can be held without a bond hearing while their deportation cases continue.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends