Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Trump Administration's New Mandatory Detention Policy

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit Court of Appeals today rejected the Trump administration’s new policy subjecting millions of immigrants to mandatory detention based on their manner of entry, regardless of how long they have lived in the country.

For decades, immigrants in removal proceedings who are detained by the government have generally had the right to seek release by an immigration judge. In mid-2025, the Trump administration suddenly adopted a new interpretation of the immigration laws and declared that anyone who entered without inspection must be detained without access to bond.

Among those who were affected by the new mandatory detention policy were people eligible for legal status, even those with long-pending immigration applications who have been waiting years due to administrative backlogs.

They include plaintiff Ricardo Barbosa da Cunha, who has been living in the United States for over 20 years, has a family, owns a home and a business, and has had an application for legal status pending since 2016. Nonetheless, in September 2025, the Department of Homeland Security detained him under the government’s new no-bond policy.

A district court judge found this unlawful and ordered a bond hearing. An immigration judge then found that he was not a flight risk or a danger to the community and ordered his release.

The Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision and agreed that the administration’s new interpretation violated existing immigration law and would raise serious constitutional problems.

The American Civil Liberties Union, New York Civil Liberties Union, and Law Office of Paul O’Dwyer PC brought the case on behalf of Barbosa de Cunha.

The following is reaction to today’s ruling:

“The court was right to conclude the Trump administration can’t just reinterpret the law at its own whim. The law is clear: The government can’t lock up immigrants like Mr. Barbosa da Cunha without giving them the basic due process of a bond hearing. This ruling is an important victory, and we are thrilled for our client and his family,” said Michael Tan, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, who argued the case.

“Today’s ruling rightly affirms that the Trump administration’s policy of detaining immigrants without any process is unlawful and cannot stand,” said Amy Belsher, director of Immigrants’ Rights Litigation at the New York Civil Liberties Union. “The government cannot mandatorily detain millions of noncitizens, many of whom have lived here for decades, without an opportunity to seek release. It defies the Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and basic human decency.”

“The Court of Appeals was right to reaffirm the right of noncitizens to be released on a bond during their removal proceedings, and to reinforce that immigration detention is generally only authorized if the person is a flight risk or a danger to the community,” said attorney Paul O’Dwyer of the Law Office of Paul O’Dwyer PC.

The ruling is here.