Fifth Circuit Rules Migrants Lack Constitutional Bond-Hearing Right

The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 10-7 en banc on Oct. 23, 2026 that the Constitution does not require bond hearings for immigrants detained pending removal. The court reversed district-court orders that had granted hearings and barred redetention for three detainees—two Mexican citizens and one Honduran—and vacated a July 2026 panel decision that ICE could not hold people beyond 90 days without a hearing. The ruling applies in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. The majority wrote: “The Constitution does not entitle them to a bond hearing.” Judge Cory Wilson added that petitioners seeking freedom from restraint “can do so at any moment by agreeing to leave the country.” The court said Congress, not courts, holds broad authority to set immigration detention policy. Ellie Norton of the National Immigration Project said the ruling “opens the door to more people being locked up for no reason, with devastating consequences for them, their loved ones and their community.” Homeland Security general counsel James Percival called it a “big win in the 5th Circuit on mandatory detention for illegal aliens.” Judge Dana Douglas wrote that “unchecked, executive authority to arrest and detain, indefinitely, echoes fearfully from history.” Judge James Ho wrote that “what Petitioners seek is not liberty, but license to violate our national sovereignty.” Judge Leslie Southwick authored a dissent joined by five other judges. The Supreme Court is set to decide a related statutory question; that review does not cover the constitutional issue the Fifth Circuit decided.