US Supreme Court agrees to take up Trump’s ICE detention policy

The case is the latest dispute over US President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.

The US Supreme Court will take up the case when its new term starts on Monday [File: Cheney Orr/Reuters]

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case focused on the Trump administration’s policy requiring millions of undocumented immigrants to remain in detention while they fight deportation.

The case, accepted on Thursday by the justices, is the latest dispute over US President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown to reach the nation’s highest court.

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At issue is whether migrants already living in the US have a legal right to a hearing where a judge can decide whether they should be released on bond from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention while their deportation cases are pending.

In July 2025, the administration introduced new guidance directing federal immigration authorities to detain undocumented immigrants without a bond hearing for the duration of their deportation proceedings, which can last for years.

The new policy, which has divided lower courts, reverses a decades-old interpretation that allowed some immigrants in the US to be released while their cases were pending in immigration court, according to Reuters news agency.

Most US federal appeals courts have ruled that immigrants cannot be detained without a bond hearing. But the 5th and 8th US Circuit Courts of Appeals have found that immigrants accused of illegally entering and remaining in the country must remain detained while their deportation cases proceed.

Trump administration attorneys told the Associated Press the split is “disrupting the orderly administration of immigration law”.

“The result is an unworkable patchwork of inconsistent immigration enforcement, where aliens present without admission are subject to mandatory detention in some circuits but are entitled to bond hearings and often released in others,” the lawyers wrote.

Millions could be affected

The Supreme Court case stems from a 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling involving Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha, a Brazilian national who entered the US around 2004 or 2005.

Immigration officers arrested him in September 2025 while he was driving to work in the US state of Massachusetts. He was initially denied a bond hearing under the administration’s policy but was later released on bond, according to court documents cited by Reuters.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is representing the plaintiffs, told the Associated Press the Trump administration is trying to deny bond hearings for immigrants apprehended within the US rather than limiting the restriction to noncitizens stopped at the border.

“Millions of noncitizens could be affected by the government’s new interpretation,” ACLU attorneys wrote.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments on Monday, when its new term starts.

此案是美国总统唐纳德·特朗普全面打击移民政策引发的最新争议。

美国最高法院将于周一新任期开始时审理此案。[图片：切尼·奥尔/路透社]

美国最高法院已同意审理一起案件，该案的焦点是特朗普政府的一项政策，该政策要求数百万无证移民在抗争遣返期间继续被拘留。

最高法院于周四受理了此案，这是美国总统唐纳德·特朗普全面打击移民政策的最新一起上诉至最高法院的案件。

伊利诺伊州三名美国公民遭移民及海关执法局（ICE）错误逮捕后受伤，以下列出其中一人。

名单2/3：一名委内瑞拉男子在德克萨斯州被美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）官员枪击，被控袭击罪。

美国法官裁定威斯康星州清真寺领袖萨拉赫·萨尔苏尔可被驱逐出境（共3条，此为第3条）

问题在于，已经居住在美国的移民是否有权举行听证会，由法官决定在遣返案件审理期间，是否应该从移民和海关执法局 (ICE) 的拘留中保释出来。

2025 年 7 月，政府出台了新的指导方针，指示联邦移民当局在驱逐出境程序期间（可能持续数年）拘留无证移民，而无需举行保释听证会。

据路透社报道，这项新政策在下级法院引发了分歧，它推翻了数十年前的一项解释，该解释允许一些在美国的移民在移民法庭审理案件期间获得释放。

美国大多数联邦上诉法院裁定，未经保释听证，不得拘留移民。但美国第五和第八巡回上诉法院则认为，被控非法入境和滞留美国的移民必须在遣返案件审理期间继续被拘留。

特朗普政府的律师告诉美联社，这种分裂“扰乱了移民法的有序执行”。

律师们写道：“结果是移民执法出现了无法有效实施的混乱局面，一些地区的外国人未经许可入境后将被强制拘留，而另一些地区的外国人则有权获得保释听证，并且经常被释放。”

数百万人可能受到影响

最高法院的这起案件源于美国第二巡回上诉法院的一项裁决，该裁决涉及巴西公民里卡多·阿帕雷西多·巴博萨·达·库尼亚，他于 2004 年或 2005 年左右进入美国。

2025年9月，移民官员在他驾车前往马萨诸塞州上班途中将其逮捕。根据路透社援引的法庭文件，他最初因违反政府政策而被拒绝保释听证，但后来获得保释。

代表原告的美国公民自由联盟 (ACLU) 告诉美联社，特朗普政府试图拒绝为在美国境内被捕的移民举行保释听证会，而不是将限制范围限定在边境被拦截的非公民。

“政府的新解释可能会影响数百万非公民，”美国公民自由联盟的律师写道。

最高法院预计将于周一举行听证会，届时将开始新的任期。