ICE Ordered to Detain Immigrants Without Bond Hearings Under New Trump Policy

The Trump administration has directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain immigrants who entered the country illegally without offering them bond hearings, according to a July 8 memo obtained by The Washington Post.

The policy, issued by acting ICE director Todd M. Lyons, instructs officers to detain these immigrants "for the duration of their removal proceedings," which can last months or years. Previously, many immigrants residing in the U.S. interior could request a bond hearing before an immigration judge.

Lyons stated that ICE and the Department of Justice had "revisited its legal position" and concluded that such individuals "may not be released from ICE custody." Release on parole will be allowed only in rare cases and at the discretion of an ICE officer, not a judge.

The directive relies on an interpretation of a section of immigration law that says certain immigrants "shall be detained." Historically, this clause applied to recent arrivals, not long-term residents, as The Washington Post explains.

Legal experts consulted by the news site expect the policy to face challenges. "I think some courts are going to find that this doesn't give noncitizens sufficient due process," said Paul Hunker, a former ICE chief counsel. Immigration lawyers argue the policy effectively extends rules meant for border crossers to longtime residents, including those with U.S. citizen children and deep community ties.

Greg Chen of the American Immigration Lawyers Association said of the measure:

"This is their way of putting in place nationwide a method of detaining even more people. It's requiring the detention of far more people without any real review of their individual circumstances"

Mark Krikorian, director of pro-enforcement organization Center for Immigration Studies, supported the change:

"Detention is absolutely the best way to approach this, if you can do it. It costs a lot of money, obviously. You're pretty much guaranteed to be able to remove the person, if there's a negative finding, if he's in detention"

The news comes days after Congress passed a tax and spending package allocating $45 billion over four years to expand ICE's detention capacity. The measure aims to double the daily detention population to 100,000. The funding will also add 10,000 ICE agents and 8,500 Customs and Border Protection officers. As the Post explains, ICE is currently holding about 56,000 immigrants a day, working overtime to fulfill Trump's goal of deporting 1 million people in his first year.