US Supreme Court agrees to take up Trump’s ICE detention policy

What the report says

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to the Trump administration’s immigration detention policy, setting up a major test of how long undocumented immigrants can be held while deportation cases move forward. Al Jazeera reported that the justices accepted the case on Thursday, with arguments expected when the court’s new term begins on Monday.

At the center of the dispute is whether people already living in the United States are entitled to a bond hearing before an immigration judge decides if they can be released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention. The administration’s July 2025 guidance instructed federal immigration authorities to detain undocumented immigrants without bond hearings for the duration of removal proceedings, which can last years. That approach has divided lower courts, with most federal appeals courts allowing bond hearings in some circumstances, while the 5th and 8th Circuits have upheld mandatory detention for certain immigrants accused of entering or remaining in the country unlawfully.

The case reached the Supreme Court through a 2nd Circuit ruling involving Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha, a Brazilian national arrested in Massachusetts in September 2025. According to the report, he was initially denied a bond hearing under the policy and later released on bond. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the challengers, argues the government is applying the rule broadly to immigrants inside the US, not just at the border.

The outcome could affect a large number of noncitizens and shape how immigration detention is handled nationwide, especially as the Trump administration’s crackdown continues to produce disputes in the lower courts.