5th Circuit Rules Illegal Immigrants Not Entitled to Bond Hearings

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 10-7 that detained illegal immigrants do not have a right to bond hearings, marking an immigration win for the Trump administration. 

The ruling, filed on Oct. 23, states that while illegal aliens are in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and are going through deportation proceedings, they do not have a right to seek bond. 

Judge Cory Wilson, an appointee of President Donald Trump, wrote in the court’s opinion that immigrants who have entered the U.S. without legal admission are entitled only to rights established by Congress, which does not include bond hearings. 

“Because petitioners have never been admitted to the United States, due process does not entitle them to additional proceedings beyond what Congress has provided before they may be detained pending removal,” Wilson wrote. 

Wilson added that even if they were admitted lawfully, they would still not be entitled to bond hearings.

“Even assuming they were, procedural due process would not entitle them to a bond hearing to assess dangerousness or flight risk, factors that are immaterial to Petitioners’ detention under § 1225(b)(2)(A). Further, the duration of Petitioners’ detention presents no constitutional defect requiring habeas relief to correct it.” 

Congress has given illegal aliens other rights including a right to a formal removal hearing, a right to counsel, a right to present evidence and appeal a decision, and expedited removal. 

The case originated from the arrest of three illegal aliens who were arrested in Texas between November 2025 and February 2026 during traffic stops. The men, Ignacio Sosnava Rodriguez, Miguel Angel Gomez Alvarado, and Alejandro Villegas Angel, were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who held them in detention and did not appear before a judge within 90 days. 

The previous three-judge panel ruled that holding the three illegal aliens without a bond hearing violated the men’s due process rights. However, the Trump administration appealed the decision, sending it to the new panel. 

The 5th Circuit ruling reverses the three judges’ opinion, which found that the Trump administration’s policy that requires agents to hold illegal aliens until they are deported is unconstitutional. 

Although 10 judges agreed with the ruling, seven of the judges dissented, including U.S. Circuit Judge Leslie Southwick, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2007. 

Southwick wrote that immigrants have a right to be free from physical restraint. 

“The majority is saying that these individuals have no fundamental interest in freedom from physical detention because of their illegal presence. I cannot agree,” Southwick wrote. 

Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival, however, praised the new ruling, saying it was a “big win.” 

“Big win in the Fifth Circuit on mandatory detention for illegal aliens, a principle codified in 1996 legislation but ignored by the deep state for decades,” Percival wrote in an X post. 

The opinion comes just before the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear Rhoney v. Barbosa da Cunha, which asks a similar question over the federal mandatory-detention statute and whether it applies to longtime immigrants who have been arrested in the United States. 

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