Supreme Court to review policy requiring immigrant detention without bond hearings

The Supreme Court agreed on October 1, 2026, to hear Rhoney v. Barbosa de Cunha over a Trump administration policy requiring many immigrants without legal status to remain detained during deportation proceedings without a bond hearing. Brazilian national Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha entered around 2004 or 2005, was arrested by ICE in Norwood, Massachusetts, in September 2025, and was later released on bond after lower-court rulings. DHS issued the guidance in July 2025, departing from a nearly three-decade-old reading of federal law. The 2nd and 6th Circuits ruled against the policy; two appeals courts allowed no-bond detention and nine ruled against it. More than 73,000 related lawsuits were filed this year, and a Reuters analysis found judges ruled detentions unlawful more than 4,400 times. A DHS spokesperson said the department “finally implemented the law as Congress intended it to” and that this “put the nail in the coffin for Biden's catch-and-release policies.” Michael K.T. Tan, a lawyer for da Cunha, said courts have “repeatedly and resoundingly rejected the Trump administration's radical misinterpretation of the law” and that holding immigrants for months or years without a bond hearing is “cruel and inhumane” and “unlawful.” Judge Joseph Bianco wrote for the 2nd Circuit that even if the government's “newfound interpretation” were plausible, the court would reject it given “the broadest mass detention-without-bond mandate in our nation's history for millions of noncitizens.” The Second Circuit also wrote that Congress has never challenged the settled practice despite numerous amendments. The justices will resolve the circuit split in the term beginning.