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5th Circuit limits Trump administration's indefinite detention policy, orders bond hearings

Jul 3, 2026

A federal appeals court panel ruled that the Trump administration must offer immigrants who are indefinitely detained the opportunity to argue for their release, retreating from a previous 5th Circuit decision. The ruling addresses a July 2025 ICE policy that broke with decades of precedent by denying bond to noncitizens who entered without inspection, intending indefinite detention for the duration of removal proceedings. The new panel distinguished the government's statutory authority from individuals' constitutional rights, limiting—though not formally revoking—an earlier February 2026 panel decision that had upheld the government's detention authority.

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