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Habeas Petitions by Detained Immigrants Hit Record Pace as Courts Split on Bond Rights

A divided 5th Circuit ruling has deepened a court split over who qualifies for bond hearings.

Overview

  • ProPublica’s tracker counts 18,235 immigration-related habeas filings since January 2025, with cases continuing at roughly 200 per day.
  • Texas and California account for about 40% of new petitions, with Minnesota seeing a recent surge tied to an ongoing enforcement push.
  • Federal district judges have frequently ordered releases or bond hearings, and a large majority have ruled against the administration’s detention policies.
  • The 5th Circuit’s divided decision limiting bond hearings to people who entered lawfully conflicts with other rulings and has spurred appeals across multiple courts.
  • U.S. attorney offices and legal advocates report heavy strain from the caseload as the detained population has grown from roughly 40,000 to more than 70,000 under expanded enforcement.