A federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration can deny bond hearings to detained immigrants, overturning lower court rulings last year.
The decision by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis on Wednesday clears the way for zero-tolerance measures ordered by the federal government, aimed at reducing the number of people without legal status and continuing mass deportations.
Attorney General Pam Bondi hailed the ruling, writing in a social media post: “MASSIVE COURT VICTORY against activist judges and for President Trump’s law and order agenda!” and “Imagine how many illegal alien crimes could have been averted if the left had simply followed the law?”
Just two months ago, a panel of judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that people in deportation cases are ineligible for release on bond, regardless of how long they have lived in the United States. The Court said it was consistent with the Constitution and federal immigration law.
Bond had often been granted to immigrants without criminal convictions and was a common practice in past administrations, reducing pressure in detention facilities. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement held 68,000 immigrants in detention centers in February, according to Syracuse University’s database of federal immigration statistics. The data shows that more than 73% have no criminal records, with only minor offenses such as traffic violations. Most of them have been in custody for at least six months.
Backlogs in immigration courts are also growing. Nationwide, there are about 3.4 million pending cases. Of those, more than 2.3 million immigrants have filed asylum applications and are waiting for hearings or decisions in immigration court, according to federal data.
Across the country, immigration lawyers are increasingly filing habeas corpus petitions in federal court to challenge immigration detention. Florida has recorded 1,980 habeas corpus cases since last January. Across the nation, there are over 30,000, ProPublica reported.
The increase in arrests and mass detentions is beginning to fuel debate among officials in Florida who last year supported a tough approach. Florida leads the nation in ICE arrests with more than 41,000 since President Donald Trump took office, according to a recent analysis by The New York Times. There have been 120 arrests per day this year, or 9,880 in total, as of early March.
Last week, the State Immigration Enforcement Council, a group of eight law enforcement officials appointed to advise the State Board of Immigration Enforcement, suggested some kind of legal pathway or humanitarian solution for noncriminal immigrants.
Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the proposal, saying, “This idea that unless you’re an axe murderer you should be able to stay, that is not consistent with our laws, and it’s also not good policy.”
