Court rules ICE can detain without bond hearings, 10-7

The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled 10-7 on Oct. 23, 2026, that immigration detainees have no constitutional right to a bond hearing, siding with the Trump administration’s mandatory detention policy across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The decision, issued by the court in New Orleans, reverses a July panel ruling that had barred U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from holding people for more than 90 days without a bond hearing. Texas and Louisiana hold the largest numbers of immigration detainees in the country, Reuters reported.

Judge Cory Wilson, appointed by President Donald Trump, wrote for the majority. He held that the Fifth Amendment’s due process protections do not require the hearings, reasoning that detainees can end their detention “at any moment by agreeing to leave the country,” according to Reuters.

Judge Dana Douglas, appointed by former president Joe Biden, wrote in dissent. “Unchecked, executive authority to arrest and detain, indefinitely, echoes fearfully from history,” she wrote.

The case was brought by two Mexican citizens and one Honduran national who challenged their detention without bond hearings.

Ellie Norton, a lawyer with the National Immigration Project who represents the detainees, said the ruling “opens the door to more people being locked up for no reason.” James Percival, the Department of Homeland Security’s general counsel, called it a “big win in the 5th Circuit on mandatory detention for illegal aliens” in a social media post.

The ruling is the latest turn in a fight that has moved back and forth inside the same court this year. In February, a 5th Circuit panel adopted the administration’s reading of U.S. immigration law as requiring mandatory detention for people who entered the country without being admitted. In July, a 2-1 panel found that holding someone past 90 days without a hearing was unconstitutional. Friday’s vote wipes out that July decision.

The Texas Tribune reported that more than 400 judges across the country have ruled against the administration’s position on bond hearings, which has split lower courts.

The decision does not settle the broader question. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Oct. 1 to decide whether the law itself requires bond hearings, as we reported when the justices took up the policy. Reuters noted that the high court will consider only the statutory question, not the constitutional one the 5th Circuit decided on Friday.

That means the constitutional ruling stands in the three states for now, while the justices decide whether Congress’s immigration law gives detainees the right to a hearing. The 5th Circuit is one of 13 federal appeals courts, and its decisions bind federal courts only in its three states.

Immigration enforcement has also produced fights over state and local cooperation. Earlier this month, a federal judge threw out a Trump administration suit over New York City’s sanctuary laws. On the Canadian side, Ottawa said in October that arrests of Canadians in the U.S. had jumped 60 per cent.

If you find reporting like this useful, consider supporting Canada News Media, an independent Canadian newsroom with no corporate parent.

Via Reuters and the Texas Tribune. Canada News Media rewrote the reporting in its own words.