A federal judge in the United States has invalidated a decision by an administrative board that supported the Trump administration’s policy of enforcing mandatory detention for individuals arrested during immigration enforcement. The judge accused the administration of instilling fear among immigrants and unlawfully breaching regulations.
District Judge Sunshine Sykes in Riverside, California, overturned the Board of Immigration Appeals’ ruling after determining that the administration had not complied with her previous order declaring the policy of denying detainees the opportunity to request release on bond as illegal. Sykes emphasized that the administration had defied her prior judgment, which highlighted the unlawful denial of release opportunities for many detained immigrants.
Sykes directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to inform detainees of their potential eligibility for bond and grant them access to legal counsel within an hour. The judge clarified that U.S. immigration law mandates detention for “applicants for admission,” excluding them from bond hearings while their cases progress in immigration courts.
Contrary to established interpretation, the DHS contended last year that non-citizens already residing in the U.S. also fall under the category of applicants for admission. The Board of Immigration Appeals, under the U.S. Justice Department, endorsed this stance in a decision last September, leading to the compulsory detention directive issued by immigration judges nationwide.
Sykes, in her ruling, criticized the DHS for repeatedly misrepresenting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations as solely targeting criminal non-citizens deemed the “worst of the worst.” She expressed concerns over the executive branch’s actions, including the fatal shootings of American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.
Following the judge’s decision, Niels Frenzen, a professor at the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law representing the plaintiffs, stated that immigration judges can no longer utilize the board’s ruling to deny bond hearings. He anticipated compliance from DHS and immigration courts in granting bond hearings to the numerous noncitizens arrested.
Meanwhile, the White House deferred comment to the DHS, which emphasized ICE’s adherence to court decisions until challenged at the Supreme Court level. The Department of Justice, responsible for overseeing the immigration appeals board, did not immediately respond to requests for input.
With bond hearings inaccessible, thousands of immigrants resorted to individual petitions in federal court seeking release. Over 20,000 habeas corpus cases have been filed since the Trump administration’s inception, with judges granting several petitions but subsequently finding noncompliance with release orders by the administration.
Judge Sykes, appointed by former President Joe Biden, ruled in November and December that the mandatory detention policy violated Congressional mandates, extending her decision nationwide. Despite this, the previous administration persisted in denying bond hearings, prompting Sykes to assert that the lack of due process for immigrants has detrimental effects on families, communities, and the nation’s integrity.