The full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that certain immigrants who entered the United States unlawfully and are classified as applicants for admission under federal immigration law have no constitutional right to individual bond hearings to challenge their detention while removal proceedings are pending.
The October 23 ruling reversed lower court decisions ordering the release of three men—two Mexican nationals and one Honduran national—who had lived in the United States for years without lawful admission. All three were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and challenged their detention under the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
The court held that the men, classified as applicants for admission under federal immigration law, were subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A). It ruled that they were not constitutionally entitled to additional proceedings, including individual bond hearings to assess dangerousness or flight risk, before being detained pending removal proceedings. The court also rejected their claims that the duration of their detention warranted release through habeas corpus.
The ruling followed an earlier decision by a three-judge panel that upheld the lower courts’ decisions and required bond hearings within 90 days of detention. The full Fifth Circuit reheard the cases, vacated the earlier panel decision and reversed the lower courts’ grants of habeas relief.
