US appeals court rejects Trump expansion of mandatory migrant detention

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing The Associated Press, reported that the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the Trump administration may not bar immigrants detained inside the United States from seeking release on bond while their immigration cases proceed. The San Francisco-based court decided the case 2-1, with Judge Daniel Bress, appointed by President Donald Trump, joining Judge M Margaret McKeown, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, in the majority.

The ruling rejects the administration’s effort to apply mandatory detention more broadly to noncitizens arrested in the US interior. According to the report, earlier practice generally allowed many detained noncitizens without criminal records to request bond hearings, while mandatory detention was more commonly applied to people taken into custody at the border. Immigration officials issued guidance last July expanding the policy, triggering numerous federal lawsuits by detained immigrants seeking release.

Bress wrote that, although the immigration-law provisions were complex, the court found the historical reading of the statute more persuasive than the administration’s interpretation. Judge Carlos Bea, appointed by former President George W Bush, dissented, saying the 1996 law’s wording and purpose supported the government’s position. The Department of Homeland Security said it disagreed with the panel and remained confident in its legal argument.

The decision adds to a widening split among federal appeals courts. Al Jazeera reported that four other circuits have rejected the policy, while the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans and the Eighth Circuit in St Louis have backed the administration. That division raises the chances of US Supreme Court review; the administration asked the high court last month to take up the issue.