Supreme Court to Decide How Long Migrants Can Be Detained Without Bond Hearing

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 15 agreed to decide whether there is any point at which the U.S. Constitution requires certain immigration detainees to be given a bond hearing.

The court’s new decision in Genalo v. Black took the form of an unsigned order. No justices dissented. The court did not explain its decision.

In this due process-based challenge, the high court will consider whether there is a limit on how long the federal government may detain a person under the Immigration and Nationality Act without a bond hearing.

In this case, two lawful permanent residents were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after criminal convictions.

Carol Williams Black was in immigration detention for around seven months. Keisy G.M. was detained for approximately 21 months.

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that under Section 1226 (c) of the act when detention is “unreasonably prolonged,” due-process protections kick in.

Looking to Supreme Court precedents, the panel found that both detainees should be given bond hearings.

The full Second Circuit voted to deny an en banc hearing in front of all of the circuit’s judges. Several judges dissented.

The federal government asked the high court to review the Second Circuit’s denial of the appeal, citing a split among federal courts of appeals.

This is a developing story and will be updated.