A divided 2-1 panel of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in an opinion by Judge Leslie Southwick joined by Judge James Graves Jr., ruled on July 2, 2026, that ICE cannot detain individuals for more than 90 days without providing a bond hearing opportunity. The case involved three migrants—two Mexican citizens and one Honduran national—who had each lived in the United States for more than a decade, had no criminal records, and were fathers of U.S. citizen children. All three were detained by ICE following traffic stops in Texas and challenged their continued detention through habeas corpus petitions, which the panel said entitled them to due process protections regardless of their immigration status. The decision stems from a July 2025 ICE memo asserting that people who entered without inspection could be held indefinitely, a policy that has triggered more than 15,000 federal court cases; the Department of Homeland Security said it disagrees with the ruling and has already asked the Supreme Court to review a similar decision from another appeals court.