Story perspectives

Appeals Courts Block Trump Immigration Detention, Order Bond Hearings

7/31/2026

Summary

Story summary

Appeals courts blocked the U.S. President Donald Trump administration’s mandatory detention policy, requiring bond hearings for detained immigrants.
The 9th and 7th Circuits each voted 2-1, with Judge Daniel Bress writing the 9th majority and Judges Joshua Kolar and Candace Jackson-Akiwumi writing the 7th.
The rulings could let many detainees in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and other western facilities obtain bond hearings.

History

Historical Context

The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, instituted mandatory detention for many non-citizens. The law empowered the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to detain over 1.5 million individuals without bond by 2005. Today, Judge Daniel Bress and Judges Joshua Kolar and Candace Jackson-Akiwumi ordered bond hearings for detained immigrants, overturning the Trump administration’s mandatory detention. The rulings revive judicial oversight of immigration enforcement, signaling that courts may again curb executive detention powers established in the 1990s.

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Story summary

Appeals courts blocked the U.S. President Donald Trump administration’s mandatory detention policy, requiring bond hearings for detained immigrants.
The 9th and 7th Circuits each voted 2-1, with Judge Daniel Bress writing the 9th majority and Judges Joshua Kolar and Candace Jackson-Akiwumi writing the 7th.
The rulings could let many detainees in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and other western facilities obtain bond hearings.

1 / 2