Court Blocks Indefinite Migrant Detention as ICE Arrests Surge to 10,000 in 5 Days

A federal appeals court has ruled that the Trump administration cannot hold immigrants in mandatory detention for more than 90 days without providing an opportunity for a bond hearing, delivering a significant legal setback to the government’s immigration enforcement strategy. The ruling comes as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 10,000 people over a five-day period in late June, marking a sharp escalation in the administration’s deportation push.

Appeals Court Ruling

On July 2, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the government’s policy of holding immigrants indefinitely without bond hearings violates constitutional due process protections. The decision applies to states within the Fifth Circuit — Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi — which house some of the nation’s largest immigration detention facilities, according to Fox News.

Judge Leslie Southwick, writing for the majority, cited the 2001 U.S. Supreme Court precedent in Zadvydas v. Davis, which held that the Due Process Clause protects everyone within U.S. boundaries. “It is part of the historic majesty of this long-ago founding charter that it makes no exceptions in providing basic rights to those within our boundaries, including a right to be heard when personal liberty is taken,” Southwick wrote.

Judge Cory Wilson dissented, arguing that the majority “marginalizes the Constitution’s express grant of plenary authority over immigration matters to Congress.”

Legal Background

The case stems from a fundamental shift in immigration detention policy. The Department of Homeland Security claimed last year that non-citizens already living in the U.S. qualify as “applicants for admission” subject to mandatory detention — a departure from the long-standing interpretation that only people arriving at the border were subject to such detention. The Board of Immigration Appeals adopted this interpretation in September 2025, leading immigration judges nationwide to begin ordering mandatory detention.

A different panel of the same court had previously sided with the administration in February 2026, upholding the government’s interpretation of federal immigration law. However, that ruling did not address whether the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause requires bond hearings, leaving the door open for the current challenge.

Rebecca Cassler, a lawyer for the migrants at the American Immigration Council, said the group is “delighted that the panel recognized the core constitutional principle that the due process clause does not allow the government to lock them away indefinitely,” as reported by Reuters.

The Department of Homeland Security said it disagrees with the ruling and is “confident in its legal position regarding mandatory detention.”

ICE Arrests Surge

Separately, ICE arrested 10,000 people over a five-day period at the end of June — Friday through Tuesday — translating to roughly 2,000 arrests per day, according to the Associated Press. The arrest numbers, obtained from a person familiar with the information who spoke anonymously to discuss data not yet publicly released, represent a dramatic increase from previous months.

ICE detention facilities climbed to roughly 39,000 in June 2026, up from approximately 30,000 per month since February. For context, December 2025 had the most ICE arrests previously, averaging 1,283 per day. The new 2,000-per-day rate represents a sharp escalation.

The administration has shifted away from high-profile arrest sweeps in major cities to quieter enforcement methods, following the controversial Minneapolis operation that resulted in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens. Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was fired after those incidents, and her successor, Markwayne Mullin, adopted a lower-profile approach.

DHS stated: “Since Day One, DHS law enforcement has been delivering on President Trump’s promise to the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists.”

Supreme Court Likely to Weigh In

The growing circuit split on mandatory detention makes Supreme Court review almost inevitable. The Trump administration had already asked the Supreme Court to review a similar ruling by a different appeals court the prior week. The JD Journal noted that the disagreement among federal appeals courts significantly increases the likelihood the Supreme Court will establish a nationwide standard.

What It Means

The ruling creates an intriguing tension: the administration is arresting migrants at record rates while simultaneously facing court-imposed limits on how long it can detain them. Thousands of immigrants currently held in Fifth Circuit detention facilities may now be eligible for bond hearings, potentially leading to releases for those who cannot be shown to pose a flight risk or danger to the community.

For immigration attorneys, the decision provides a powerful new tool for challenging prolonged detention. For the administration, it represents a significant legal hurdle in its enforcement agenda — one that will likely need to be resolved by the nation’s highest court.

What to Watch

All eyes are now on the Supreme Court. If the justices agree to hear the case, their decision could reshape immigration detention nationwide. Meanwhile, the quieter but more aggressive enforcement approach adopted under Secretary Mullin suggests the administration will continue pursuing high arrest numbers even as courts push back on detention without due process.