The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case challenging the Trump administration's policy requiring millions of undocumented immigrants to remain in detention while fighting deportation.
The justices accepted the case on Thursday. It is the latest dispute over President Donald Trump's sweeping immigration crackdown to reach the nation's highest court.
At issue is whether migrants already living in the US have a legal right to a bond hearing, where a judge can decide whether they should be released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody while their deportation cases are pending.
In July 2025, the administration introduced new guidance directing federal immigration authorities to detain undocumented immigrants without a bond hearing for the duration of their deportation proceedings, which can last for years. The policy reverses a decades-old interpretation that had allowed some immigrants to be released while their cases were pending in immigration court.
The new policy has divided lower courts. Most US federal appeals courts have ruled that immigrants cannot be detained without a bond hearing. However, the 5th and 8th US Circuit Courts of Appeals have found that immigrants accused of illegally entering and remaining in the country must remain detained while their deportation cases proceed.
Trump administration attorneys argued the split is "disrupting the orderly administration of immigration law."
"The result is an unworkable patchwork of inconsistent immigration enforcement, where aliens present without admission are subject to mandatory detention in some circuits but are entitled to bond hearings and often released in others," the lawyers wrote.
The Supreme Court case stems from a 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling involving Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha, a Brazilian national who entered the US around 2004 or 2005.
Immigration officers arrested him in September 2025 while he was driving to work in the state of Massachusetts. He was initially denied a bond hearing under the administration's policy but was later released on bond, according to court documents.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is representing the plaintiffs, said the Trump administration is attempting to deny bond hearings for immigrants apprehended within the US, rather than limiting the restriction to non-citizens stopped at the border.
"Millions of noncitizens could be affected by the government's new interpretation," ACLU attorneys wrote.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments on Monday, when its new term begins.
