Supreme Court agrees to review Trump’s mandatory detention policy for immigrants

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Thursday to hear the dispute over President Donald Trump’s administration policy that subjects millions of undocumented immigrants to mandatory detention during deportation proceedings, as Reuters reports. The justices accepted the administration’s appeal against a lower court ruling against the policy; the case will be heard in the new term that begins on Monday.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in July 2025 issued new guidance under which undocumented immigrants are subject to mandatory detention without a bond hearing for the entire duration of deportation proceedings, which can last months and even years. The guidance departed from the nearly three-decade-old interpretation of federal law that allowed release on bond during immigration court proceedings.

Immigrants detained under the policy have filed tens of thousands of lawsuits seeking their release; a Reuters analysis in February found that hundreds of judges across the country had ruled more than 4,400 times that the Trump administration had detained these immigrants unlawfully. The issue has created a split among the appeals courts: the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans (in February, by a 2-1 vote) sided with Trump, while the 2nd and 6th Circuits ruled against the policy.

The appeal to the Supreme Court was brought by Victor Buenrostro-Mendez and Jose Padron Covarrubias, two Mexican nationals who entered the U.S. illegally in 2009 and 2001 and were detained last year under the policy. The Court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, has allowed a series of Trump’s hardline immigration policies to take effect. Another major immigration case — on expedited deportations to third countries — is expected to be heard in December.