Latest news with #bondhearing


Washington Post
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Immigration agency flexes authority to sharply expand detention without bond hearing
SAN DIEGO — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has moved to detain far more people than before by tapping a legal authority to jail anyone who entered the country illegally without allowing them a bond hearing. Todd Lyons, ICE's acting director, wrote employees on July 8 that the agency was revisiting its 'extraordinarily broad and equally complex' authority to detain people and that, effective immediately, people would be ineligible for a bond hearing before an immigration judge . Instead, they cannot be released unless the Homeland Security Department makes an exception.


Al Arabiya
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Immigration agency flexes authority to sharply expand detention without bond hearing
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has moved to detain far more people than before by tapping a legal authority to jail anyone who entered the country illegally without allowing them a bond hearing. Todd Lyons, ICE's acting director, wrote employees on July 8 that the agency was revisiting its extraordinarily broad and equally complex authority to detain people, and that, effective immediately, people would be ineligible for a bond hearing before an immigration judge. Instead, they cannot be released unless the Homeland Security Department makes an exception. The directive, first reported by The Washington Post, signals wider use of a 1996 law to detain people who had previously been allowed to remain free while their cases wind through immigration court. Asked Tuesday to comment on the memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said, 'The Biden administration dangerously unleashed millions of unvetted illegal aliens into the country – and they used many loopholes to do so. President (Donald) Trump and Secretary (Kristi) Noem are now enforcing this law as it was actually written to keep America safe.' McLaughlin said ICE will have plenty of bed space after Trump signed a law that spends about 170 billion on border and immigration enforcement. It puts ICE on the cusp of staggering growth, infusing it with 76.5 billion over five years, or nearly 10 times its current annual budget. That includes 45 billion for detention. Greg Chen, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, began hearing from lawyers across the country last week that clients were being taken into custody in immigration court under the new directive. One person who was detained lived in the United States for 25 years. While it won't affect people who came legally and overstayed their visas, the initiative would apply to anyone who crossed the border illegally, Chen said. 'The Trump administration has acted with lightning speed to ramp up massive detention policy to detain as many people as possible now without any individualized review done by a judge. This is going to turn the United States into a nation that imprisons people as a matter of course,' Chen said. Matt Adams, legal director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, said the administration is adopting a draconian interpretation of the statute to jail people who may have lived in the US for decades, have no criminal history, and have US citizen spouses, children, and grandchildren. His organization sued the administration in March over what it said was a growing practice among immigration judges in Tacoma, Washington, to jail people for prolonged mandatory periods. Lyons wrote in his memo that detention was entirely within ICE's discretion, but he acknowledged a legal challenge was likely. For that reason, he told ICE attorneys to continue gathering evidence to argue for detention before an immigration judge, including potential danger to the community and flight risk. ICE held about 56,000 people at the end of June, near an all-time high, and above its budgeted capacity of about 41,000. Homeland Security said new funding will allow for an average daily population of 100,000 people. In January, Trump signed the Laken Riley Act, named for a slain Georgia nursing student, which required detention for people in the country illegally who are arrested or charged with relatively minor crimes, including burglary, theft, and shoplifting, in addition to violent crimes.


The Independent
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Immigration agency flexes authority to sharply expand detention without bond hearing
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has moved to detain far more people than before by tapping a legal authority to jail anyone who entered the country illegally without allowing them a bond hearing. Todd Lyons, ICE's acting director, wrote employees on July 8 that the agency was revisiting its 'extraordinarily broad and equally complex' authority to detain people and that, effective immediately, people would be ineligible for a bond hearing before an immigration judge. Instead, they cannot be released unless the Homeland Security Department makes an exception. The directive, first reported by The Washington Post, signals wider use of a 1996 law to detain people who had previously been allowed to remain free while their cases wind through immigration court. Asked Tuesday to comment on the memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said, 'The Biden administration dangerously unleashed millions of unvetted illegal aliens into the country — and they used many loopholes to do so. President (Donald) Trump and Secretary (Kristi) Noem are now enforcing this law as it was actually written to keep America safe.' McLaughlin said ICE will have 'plenty of bed space' after Trump signed a law that spends about $170 billion on border and immigration enforcement. It puts ICE on the cusp of staggering growth, infusing it with $76.5 billion over five years, or nearly 10 times its current annual budget. That includes $45 billion for detention. Greg Chen, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, began hearing from lawyers across the country last week that clients were being taken into custody in immigration court under the new directive. One person who was detained lived in the United States for 25 years. While it won't affect people who came legally and overstayed their visas, the initiative would apply to anyone who crossed the border illegally, Chen said. The Trump administration 'has acted with lightning speed to ramp up massive detention policy to detain as many people as possible now without any individualized review done by a judge. This is going to turn the United States into a nation that imprisons people as a matter of course,' Chen said. Matt Adams, legal director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, said the administration is 'adopting a draconian interpretation of the statute' to jail people who may have lived in the U.S. for decades, have no criminal history and have U.S. citizen spouses, children and grandchildren. His organization sued the administration in March over what it said was a growing practice among immigration judges in Tacoma, Washington, to jail people for prolonged, mandatory periods. Lyons wrote in his memo that detention was entirely within ICE's discretion, but he acknowledged a legal challenge was likely. For that reason, he told ICE attorneys to continue gathering evidence to argue for detention before an immigration judge, including potential danger to the community and flight risk. ICE held about 56,000 people at the end of June, near an all-time high and above its budgeted capacity of about 41,000. Homeland Security said new funding will allow for an average daily population of 100,000 people. In January, Trump signed the Laken Riley Act, named for a slain Georgia nursing student, which required detention for people in the country illegally who are arrested or charged with relatively minor crimes, including burglary, theft and shoplifting, in addition to violent crimes.


The Guardian
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump administration seeks to end bond hearings for immigrants without legal status
The Trump administration is reportedly seeking to bar millions of immigrants who allegedly arrived in the US without legal status from receiving a bond hearing as they try to fight their deportations in court. The new policy would apply during removal proceedings, which can take years, for millions of immigrants who entered the country from Mexico in recent decades, according to a report from the Washington Post, which reviewed documents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice). Such immigrants had previously been allowed to request a bond hearing before an immigration judge, but Todd Lyons, Ice's acting director, stated in a memo reviewed by the Post that the homeland security and justice departments had 'revisited [their] legal position on detention and release authorities'. The departments determined that such immigrants 'may not be released from Ice custody', Lyons reportedly wrote in the memo. That new restriction, which is expected to face legal challenges, was issued on 8 July shortly after the Republican-controlled Congress provided Ice $45bn over the next four years to detain immigrants for civil deportation proceedings. 'To be clear, [Ice's] position here is laughable and is being rejected by immigration judges all over the US, and will soon be dismissed by actual federal court judges in habeas proceedings,' Charles Kuck, an immigration attorney and Emory University law professor, wrote on X in a post that alluded to challenges against one's detention. The policy change would mark the latest significant departure for Ice, which during Joe Biden's presidency provided a guide on how immigrants who are detained can post bond. 'Judges see a lot of people every day,' the guide stated. 'You can make your testimony stand out by speaking sincerely. Think about a story that will show the judge how much your family needs you. Explain to the judge why your detention hurts your family very much. 'We hope that this guide provides you with helpful information when preparing for your bond hearing. We wish you the best of luck with your case!' The Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for reducing immigration, defended the new reported policy. 'Detention is absolutely the best way to approach this, if you can do it,' Mark Krikorian, executive director for the Center for Immigration Studies, told the Post. 'It costs a lot of money, obviously. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion 'You're pretty much guaranteed to be able to remove the person, if there's a negative finding, if … [they're] in detention.' The Trump administration had already worked to limit which immigrants can post bond. Previously, people arrested after they had entered the US and placed in regular removal proceedings were eligible for a bond hearing, according to the National Immigration Project, a non-profit whose attorneys have defended immigrants facing deportation. But in May, the federal Board of Immigration Appeals issued a ruling stating that such people were subject to mandatory detention, meaning that Ice could jail them during removal proceedings and not provide them an opportunity to appear before an immigration judge and get a bond set. Ice did not immediately respond to the Guardian's request for comment on the reported new policy.


Washington Post
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
ICE declares millions of undocumented immigrants ineligible for bond hearings
The Trump administration has declared that immigrants who arrived in the United States illegally are no longer eligible for a bond hearing as they fight deportation proceedings in court, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post. In a July 8 memo, Todd M. Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told officers that such immigrants should be detained 'for the duration of their removal proceedings,' which can take months or years. Lawyers say the policy will apply to millions of immigrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border over the past few decades, including under Biden.