NEW YORK, N.Y. — In a ruling on immigration detention, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit sided with the American Civil Liberties Union in a challenge to the Trump administration’s mandatory detention policy, preserving bond hearings for millions of immigrants in removal proceedings who would otherwise remain in custody without access to bond hearings.
The court rejected the administration’s mid-2025 interpretation of immigration law, which declared that anyone who entered the United States without inspection must be held in mandatory detention during removal proceedings, regardless of how long they had lived in the country or whether they posed any public safety risk.
For decades, immigrants placed in removal proceedings while detained by the government were generally allowed to request release through a bond hearing before an immigration judge. Under the new policy, that opportunity was removed for many individuals, including those with pending legal status applications waiting for years because of administrative delays.
Among those affected was the plaintiff, Ricardo Barbosa da Cunha, who has lived in the United States for more than 20 years. According to the ACLU, Barbosa da Cunha has a family, owns both a home and a business, and has had an application for legal status pending since 2016.
Despite these circumstances, the Department of Homeland Security detained him in September 2025 under the administration’s new no-bond policy. A district court judge later found the policy unlawful and ordered that Barbosa da Cunha receive a bond hearing.
During that hearing, an immigration judge determined that he was neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community and ordered his release. The Second Circuit affirmed that lower court decision, agreeing that the government’s interpretation violated existing immigration law and created serious constitutional issues.
The case was brought by the ACLU, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Law Office of Paul O’Dwyer PC.
Michael Tan, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, stated, “The court was right to conclude the Trump administration can’t just reinterpret the law at its own whim.”
He added, “The law is clear: The government can’t lock up immigrants like Mr. Barbosa da Cunha without giving them the basic due process of a bond hearing.”
Tan called the decision “an important victory” and said the legal team was “thrilled for our client and his family,” arguing that the government could not remove a basic legal protection simply by changing its interpretation of the law.
Amy Belsher, director of Immigrants’ Rights Litigation at the New York Civil Liberties Union, also criticized the policy, saying, “Today’s ruling rightly affirms that the Trump administration’s policy of detaining immigrants without any process is unlawful and cannot stand.”
Belsher stated that the government “cannot mandatorily detain millions of noncitizens, many of whom have lived here for decades, without an opportunity to seek release.” She further argued that the policy “defies the Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and basic human decency,” emphasizing concerns about due process and fairness in immigration enforcement.
Attorney Paul O’Dwyer also supported the ruling, stating, “The Court of Appeals was right to reaffirm the right of noncitizens to be released on bond during their removal proceedings.” He added that immigration detention is generally only justified when a person is considered a flight risk or a danger to the community.
While the administration argued for broader detention authority based on the manner of entry, the court found that such a policy could not override long-standing legal protections without clear congressional authorization.
The ruling reinforces bond hearings as a basic due process protection and limits the government’s ability to impose blanket detention policies on immigrants during removal proceedings.
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