Overview
- In a 2–1 decision, Judges Edith Jones and Kyle Duncan formed the majority and Judge Dana Douglas dissented, with the court declaring that noncitizens “apprehended anywhere” who were never admitted are ineligible for bond.
- The panel reversed two district-court orders and sent the cases back, reinstating detention without bond for the two long‑time Mexican residents who had previously won release.
- The decision endorses the administration’s 2025 reinterpretation of IIRIRA that treats many interior arrests as applicants for admission, leaving release to ICE parole rather than bond hearings before immigration judges.
- Most district courts elsewhere have rejected the policy in thousands of habeas cases, and Minnesota’s Operation Metro Surge has intensified the litigation load and operational strains across federal courts and U.S. attorney offices.
- Senior officials including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the ruling, while parallel appeals continue in other circuits and legal observers say the Supreme Court may ultimately resolve the split.