US Appeals Court Reverses Trumps Immigration Detention Policy

A US Federal Appeals Court Has Rejected the Trump Administration’s Mandatory Detention Policy

In a 3-0 ruling on Tuesday, the New York-based US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has overturned the Trump administration’s practice of subjecting most people arrested in its immigration crackdown to mandatory detention without the opportunity to seek release on bond. The court found that the administration relied on an incorrect interpretation of a decades-old immigration law.

The policy, which was implemented by the Department of Homeland Security, classified non-citizens already living in the US as “applicants for admission” and subjecting them to mandatory detention. However, the court ruled that this interpretation defies the statute’s context, structure, history, and purpose.

Under federal immigration law, “applicants for admission” are detained while their cases proceed in immigration courts and are ineligible for bond hearings. The Department of Homeland Security has been denying bond hearings to immigrants arrested across the country, including those who have been living in the US for years without any criminal history.

The appeals court’s decision comes after two other appeals courts ruled in favor of the Trump administration’s policy. However, this ruling aligns with more than 370 lower-court judges nationwide who have rejected the administration’s position as a misreading of the law.

Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union stated that the court’s decision upholds an order by a New York judge that led to the release of a Brazilian national who was arrested while driving to work after living in the US for over 20 years. The Department of Justice, which is defending the mandatory detention policy in court, has not commented on this ruling.

Source: Al Jazeera