Trump's No-Bail Detention Policy Against Immigrants Faces Legal Blowback: 'They Flipped the Statute on Its Head'

A class action lawsuit has been filed against the Trump administration's abrupt policy shift that mandates immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) remain in detention while fighting deportation.

Immigrant rights groups are arguing the shift unlawfully denies individuals their right to a bond hearing and violates due process. The class-action lawsuit targets Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and the Adelanto immigration court in California.

The policy was formally outlined in a July 8 memo circulated to ICE personnel, which declares that immigrants in the U.S. without authorization—regardless of how long they've lived in the country or their individual circumstances—must remain detained for the duration of their immigration proceedings.

The memo, signed by acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons, says it was using its "extraordinarily broad" authority to change its interpretation of existing law, with rare exceptions decided by ICE officers, not immigration judges. Previously, longstanding practice allowed those who were not considered flight risks or public safety threats to request bond.

Immigration advocates argue this abrupt reversal unlawfully expands a narrow legal provision typically applied to recent border crossers. "The statute makes clear that they are entitled to a bond hearing," said Matt Adams, legal director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project to NPR on Monday. "Now the agencies are attempting to rewrite the law."

Adams said the policy has already caused "irreparable harm" by separating families and forcing individuals to remain in detention for months or years.

Defense attorneys have reported being blindsided. Nico Thompson-Lleras of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights told NPR that bond hearings that would have been routine were suddenly denied:

"I was absolutely shocked. It's like they flipped their understanding of the statute on its head. It was almost like a slight-of-hand trick"

The legal battle follows a surge in detentions and ICE's push to double daily detention capacity to 100,000 people. Critics argue that the policy's broad application is meant to deter migrants from fighting their cases. "They make it more difficult so people just leave," said Alfredo Juarez Zeferino, a detainee who recently gave up his case and returned to Mexico after 17 years in the U.S.

Legal experts expect the matter to reach the Supreme Court.