The Trump administration secured a legal victory on Friday as a federal appeals court upheld its policy allowing immigrants to be detained without bond while their cases proceed.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2–1 that the Department of Homeland Security can lawfully hold noncitizens in custody, even if they were arrested inside the United States rather than at the border. The decision overturns lower court rulings that had blocked the policy and is expected to affect thousands of detainees in Texas and Louisiana.
The cases involved Mexican nationals Victor Buenrostro-Mendez and Jose Padron Covarrubias, who had lived in the United States for more than a decade and had no criminal histories. Both were held for months before a Texas court granted bond. Their attorneys argued that the men were not flight risks and had been wrongly denied bond under a new DHS interpretation of federal immigration law.
Circuit Judge Edith Jones wrote for the majority, emphasizing that the statute applies to “unadmitted aliens apprehended anywhere in the United States” and noting that previous administrations’ narrower enforcement practices did not limit the government’s authority.
Attorney General Pam Bondi hailed the ruling as a major legal win, calling it a “significant blow against activist judges who have been undermining our efforts to make America safe again at every turn.”
