The Trump administration announced a major policy change that will have a profound impact on immigration enforcement in the United States. Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd M. Lyons issued a memo on July 8th, which eliminates bond hearings for migrants who have entered the country illegally, requiring them to remain in detention for the entirety of their deportation proceedings.
This development marks a stark contrast to the long-standing practice that allowed migrants to request bond hearings before immigration judges, potentially being released into the community while their cases moved through the court system. The memo indicated that upon reviewing legal positions on detention and release authorities, the Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department concluded that such migrants "may not be released from ICE custody."
Previously, the ICE annual report disclosed that the majority of the 7.6 million migrants on the agency's docket had been released from detention. However, under the new guidelines, they are to be held in detention centers where ICE currently detains around 56,000 individuals per day. With the Big Beautiful Bill providing $45 billion over four years, the detention capacity is set to nearly double, accommodating civil deportation proceedings.
The policy applies to migrants who crossed the southern border in recent decades, including the surge during the Biden administration. In exceptional situations, migrants may still be granted parole, but such decisions are now in the hands of immigration officers rather than judges.
The memo states the policy is based on immigration law provisions that require migrants to be detained after arrest, interpreting this as a prohibition on release. This interpretation, however, is a departure from traditional understanding, which applied primarily to recent border crossers.
Legal experts and immigration rights groups have raised concerns, arguing that the policy violates due process and could lead to indefinite detention. The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project filed a lawsuit challenging similar actions by immigration judges in Tacoma, Washington, which denied bond hearings to migrants who entered illegally.
The case of Ramon Rodriguez Vazquez, a Washington state farmer with a U.S. citizen family and no criminal history, highlights the individual impact of these policies. After a federal judge ordered a proper bond hearing, Vazquez was still denied bond and deported to Mexico.
Advocates of the policy change argue that it could deter migrants from filing baseless claims, relying on release while immigration courts work through backlogs. Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies supports the change, emphasizing that detention ensures the prompt removal of individuals with negative case outcomes.
On the other hand, government officials have reopened family detention centers and reinforced facilities, such as the "Alligator Alcatraz" in the Florida Everglades. These actions have drawn criticism from Democratic lawmakers for the conditions migrants face, with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz demanding that the "internment-like" facility be closed.
The policy's implementation is "likely to be litigated," as acknowledged by Lyons, suggesting a complex legal battle ahead. This move by the Trump administration represents a significant shift in the U.S.'s approach to immigration enforcement and has sparked a national debate on the balance between border security and human rights.
