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 \u201cfor the duration of their removal proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lyons explained that DHS and the Justice Department revised their legal interpretation, concluding migrants \u201cmay not be released from ICE custody.\u201d 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 \u201ca radical departure\u201d likely to \u201cexplode the detention population.\u201d<\/p>\n
Previously, migrants could request bond hearings and, if granted, be released while their cases proceeded. According to ICE\u2019s 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 \u201cBig Beautiful Bill,\u201d which allocates \\$45 billion over four years to expand detention capacity.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cshall be detained\u201d after arrest\u2014previously understood to apply only to recent crossers. Lyons acknowledged the policy is \u201clikely to be litigated.\u201d<\/p>\n
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 \u201cwithout any real review of their individual circumstances.\u201d Some detainees now face deportation to third countries on as little as six hours\u2019 notice, sometimes after consulting counsel. A former ICE chief counsel noted detainees \u201ccould be held indefinitely until they\u2019re deported.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8574,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n