Three long-time U.S. residents ask Fifth Circuit to grant bond hearings under constitutional claim
Three immigrants who have lived in the United States for over ten years petitioned the full Fifth Circuit to recognize a constitutional right to a bond hearing while their removal cases proceed.
Three men who have been in the United States for more than a decade filed a request before the full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, asserting that the Constitution guarantees them a bond hearing while they face deportation. They contend that a policy instituted by the Trump administration, which bars bond hearings for all non-citizens who entered without legal admission, breaches due-process rights. A three-judge panel had earlier ruled that even illegal entrants with substantial U.S. residence merit a bond hearing within 90 days, prompting the full court to rehear the matter and stay orders that prevented the government from detaining the trio without such hearings.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign argued that statutory language mandates detention regardless of flight risk, likening a hearing to a pointless test of driving ability for a minor. Representing the immigrants, Rebecca Cassler of the American Immigration Council maintained that constitutional liberty interests require the government to justify detention. Several judges expressed skepticism, questioning whether an abstract right to freedom applies to individuals seeking admission and how courts could measure ties to the United States.
Why it matters
The case could reshape how immigration detention and due-process rights are applied to long-term undocumented residents.
How the sides frame it
LOW AGREEMENTLeft-leaning coverage frames the story around the Supreme Court’s review of ICE’s policy of indefinite detention and its constitutional challenges, while centrist coverage frames it as three long-time residents petitioning the Fifth Circuit for bond hearings under due-process claims.
LEFT
Left-leaning coverage presents the issue as a Supreme Court showdown over ICE’s indefinite detention policy and its alleged violation of the Fifth Amendment.
CENTER
Centrist coverage presents the issue as three long-time U.S. residents seeking constitutional bond hearings against a Trump-era detention rule.
The left emphasises
- ICE's push for indefinite immigration detention
- policy exceeds congressional intent and may violate the Fifth Amendment
- about 70% of those in ICE custody lack criminal histories
How this story developed
- Aug 13 San Antonio immigrants live in constant fear as ICE arrests surge
- Aug 18 ICE released a draft plan to provide liability insurance to local officers making immigration arrests.
- Aug 22 San Diego County board approved a narrow vote to halt ICE and CBP firearms training at county‑owned ranges.
- Aug 23 An investigation found that 71% of detainee grievances were dismissed and only 8% were resolved in detainees’ favor.
- Aug 25 ICE began using a $45 billion allocation to shift legal ownership of detention centers to the federal government.
- Sep 1 ICE placed a mother and her adult daughter into custody after a hospital intake following a car crash in Florida.
- Sep 1 ICE carried out a raid in Memphis that arrested more than 100 people, the largest raid in the city’s history.
- Sep 11 A judge dismissed the deportation case against the Andhra Pradesh woman, yet ICE continued to require her reporting.
- Sep 17 ICE agent Christian Castro turned himself in to Minnesota authorities on a warrant for assault after shooting a Venezuelan man, and faces both state and federal charges.
- Sep 18 Castro entered a not‑guilty plea to the federal false‑statement charges.
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