Supreme Court agrees to decide whether ICE can jail immigrants who entered illegally without a bond hearing

Nine federal appeals courts and more than 500 district judges have rejected the policy, in force since July 2025; only the 5th and 8th Circuits have upheld it.

The Supreme Court agreed Thursday, Oct. 1 to decide whether people who entered the U.S. illegally, including those who have lived here for decades, can be held without a bond hearing (a chance to ask a judge for release) while their deportation cases run. The test case. Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha is a Brazilian with no criminal record who came to the U.S. around 2005. ICE arrested him in September 2025. His lawyer, Paul Dwyer, says he "has never missed an immigration appointment or hearing." The government. Solicitor General D. John Sauer says the policy removes a "perverse incentive" that treats people who evade detention at entry more leniently. What next. No argument date is set. A ruling is due by the end of June 2027.

Biggest ICE detention states, and whether their courts back no-bond:

Texas: 16,450 detainees in FY2026, under the 5th Circuit, which upheld the policy
Louisiana: 7,680, also 5th Circuit
Georgia: 4,556, under the 11th Circuit, which rejected the policy