US Domestic — 2026-10-26

Fifth Circuit Rules Immigrants in ICE Custody Have No Right to Bond Hearings

BLUFSupreme Court review of the Fifth Circuit's outlier no-bond-hearing ruling will likely come by year's end, given nine contrary circuits and the Court's existing grant on the related statutory question.

The full Fifth Circuit ruled 10-7 on Friday that three Texas men who entered unlawfully and had lived in the U.S. over a decade are not constitutionally entitled to bond hearings, reversing a three-judge panel 123. Judge Cory Wilson wrote that, because the men were never admitted, due process requires nothing beyond the procedures Congress provided 23. Judge Leslie Southwick's dissent, joined by five judges, said the ruling builds an "impenetrable wall between the Constitution and these long-term residents"; Judge Catharina Haynes would limit that reasoning to residents like the petitioners 23. Bloomberg Law reported that only one other circuit has upheld the policy while nine have ruled against it, and that the Supreme Court has agreed to review the separate statutory question 3. Petitioners' counsel has not said whether they will seek Supreme Court review 1.

Analysis
Confidence is high because four outlets consistently report the 10-7 split, nine contrary circuits, and the Court's existing grant on the statutory question, though all four draw on the same opinion, which limits their independence. Detainees in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi cannot obtain bond hearings until a national ruling, and district courts there lose the habeas relief they had been granting. The full court's decision vacates the panel ruling that required hearings, and the Eighth Circuit had already joined the statutory side in March. Judge Haynes's narrower reading, limited to long-term residents with no criminal history, offers the Supreme Court a middle path that would preserve due process claims for the petitioners' class. Petitioners will likely file a certiorari petition, or the Supreme Court will grant review, in this en banc no-bond-hearing case by December 31, 2026. The Supreme Court may instead resolve the statutory question in the separate case it has already accepted, which would moot this constitutional ruling and make a petition from these three men unnecessary. If review is sought or granted, immigration counsel and DHS planners hold Fifth Circuit detention strategy pending that ruling. If not, the no-bond rule stays settled for the three states, and transfers into Texas facilities become more attractive.

4 sources

Trump administration can hold immigrants in ICE custody without bond, court rules - Texas Tribune
Fifth Circuit rules Trump mandatory detention policy constitutional - Courthouse News Service
Trump Migrant Detention Policy Upheld by Full Fifth Circuit - Bloomberg Law
5th Circuit reverses itself again and rules in favor of ICE's indefinite detention policy - Law&Crime