Supreme Court to scrutinize key pillar of Trump deportation machine in blockbuster case
The Supreme Court will hear a major case over whether certain immigrants held in ICE detention must receive bond hearings while awaiting deportation.
The Supreme Court agreed Thursday to hear a blockbuster challenge to ICE's mandatory detention policy after the Trump administration asked the justices to review the case.
The outcome of this case will determine whether certain noncitizens held in immigration detention while awaiting deportation are entitled to bond hearings, an issue that has divided the federal appeals courts.
Nine federal appeals courts have rejected the Trump administration's interpretation of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. The case now before the Supreme Court stems from a ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The 5th and 8th U.S. Circuits have taken the opposite view, ruling that the Trump administration may require the mandatory detention of certain noncitizens without offering them bond hearings.
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The case before the Supreme Court centers on Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha, a Brazilian citizen who entered the United States without inspection more than two decades ago, applied for asylum in 2016 and was granted work authorization while his application was pending. ICE arrested him in September 2025 and argued he was subject to mandatory detention without a bond hearing while his removal case proceeded.
Barbosa da Cunha challenged the government's interpretation of federal immigration law, arguing his detention was governed by a different provision that permits immigration judges to hold bond hearings. The district court agreed, and the 2nd U.S. Circuit affirmed.
The district court ruled Barbosa da Cunha was entitled to a bond hearing because his detention was governed by a different provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act. An immigration judge later found he did not pose a flight risk or danger to the community and ordered him released on bond.
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"Mr. Barbosa da Cunha has been living in the U.S. for the last 22 years," attorney Paul Dwyer of the Law Office of Paul Dwyer PC said in a statement. "He is a hard-working, small-business owner with a U.S. citizen family and no criminal history. He has never missed an immigration appointment or hearing. Detaining him without the possibility of release on bond serves no purpose other than to punish him for being an immigrant, and has been solidly rejected by every court to have considered his case. We are confident that the Supreme Court will agree."
"The courts have repeatedly and resoundingly rejected the Trump administration’s radical misinterpretation of the law," Michael K.T. Tan, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. said in a statement. "Try as it might, the government cannot twist the law to detain immigrants for months or even years on end without a bond hearing. Not only is it cruel and inhumane; it is unlawful. We look forward to making that case to the Supreme Court."
The case comes as President Donald Trump has made mass deportations of illegal immigrants a centerpiece to his second term, deploying immigration enforcement operations across the country and authorizing expansions of immigration detention centers to help meet the goal.
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Since Trump's return to office, the population of detainees has grown to over 73,000 as of mid-January, jumping by 75% in one year, according to the American Immigration Council.
The case before the Supreme Court mirrors a petition submitted by Sauer, which also deals with the constitutionality of mandatory detentions for immigrants, both illegal and with lawful status, who have committed crimes. The case, Genalo v. D.C., was previously ruled moot after Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul pardoned the migrant at the center of the case.
Oral arguments are expected to be held later this term.
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