US Supreme Court agrees to decide whether immigration detainees have a right to a bond hearing

2 October 2026

The Supreme Court of the United States agreed on Thursday 1 October 2026 to review the federal government's policy of mandatory immigration detention without a bond hearing. The question before the court is whether people held while their deportation proceedings are pending have a right to a bond hearing at which release can be sought. The policy at issue is guidance issued in July 2025 directing immigration authorities to hold people without authorisation to remain in the country for the duration of their deportation proceedings, departing from the earlier practice of allowing bond hearings for most non-citizens without criminal records who were arrested away from the border. The case taken up is that of Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha, a Brazilian national who entered the United States about two decades ago, sought asylum in 2016 and was arrested in Massachusetts in September 2025; he has never faced criminal charges. Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union say millions of non-citizens could be affected by the government's interpretation. Most federal appeals courts had held that people in this position cannot be detained without a bond hearing, while the Fifth and Eighth Circuits found mandatory detention permissible, and it is this split the Supreme Court will resolve. The court's new term opened on the following Monday.