The Trump administration has implemented a new policy requiring millions of migrants who entered the U.S. illegally to remain in detention throughout their deportation proceedings, which can last months or even years. Acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons issued a July 8 memo instructing agents that migrants will no longer be eligible for bond hearings and must be held “for the duration of their removal proceedings.”
Lyons explained that DHS and the Justice Department revised their legal interpretation, concluding migrants “may not be released from ICE custody.” This policy, first reported by The Washington Post, overturns decades-old detention norms and intensifies deportation efforts. Tom Jawetz, a former Biden homeland security official, called it “a radical departure” likely to “explode the detention population.”
Previously, migrants could request bond hearings and, if granted, be released while their cases proceeded. According to ICE’s last annual report, most of the 7.6 million migrants on its docket were released. Under the new policy, these individuals must remain detained, adding to the roughly 56,000 people ICE currently holds daily. The detention population is expected to nearly double following the recently passed “Big Beautiful Bill,” which allocates \$45 billion over four years to expand detention capacity.
The policy applies to any migrant who crossed the southern border without authorization, regardless of when, including those who arrived under the Biden administration. Though officers may grant parole in exceptional cases, the administration defends the change by citing a law stating migrants “shall be detained” after arrest—previously understood to apply only to recent crossers. Lyons acknowledged the policy is “likely to be litigated.”
Immigration advocates warn this directive strips migrants of due process. Greg Chen of the American Immigration Lawyers Association called it a way to detain more people “without any real review of their individual circumstances.” Some detainees now face deportation to third countries on as little as six hours’ notice, sometimes after consulting counsel. A former ICE chief counsel noted detainees “could be held indefinitely until they’re deported.”
