Appeals court greenlights Trump admin policy of detaining undocumented immigrants without opportunity to seek release

A divided federal appeals court on Friday ruled in favor of the Trump administration’s policy of detaining millions of undocumented immigrants, even those who have been living in the US for decades, without the opportunity to challenge their detention, handing Donald Trump a major win as he seeks to carry out an aggressive deportation campaign.

The 2-1 ruling from the conservative 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals means that in several southern states, scores of immigrants who had been living in the US unlawfully, including those who were previously allowed to remain out on bond as their case made its way through the immigration system, can now be detained and denied the opportunity to seek their release through bond hearings before immigration judges.

In thousands of cases around the country, federal judges had consistently ruled that the policy Trump rolled out last year was unlawful, but Friday’s decision marks the first time an appeals court has backed it. The ruling only applies to immigrants in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.