BlogLine

Supreme Court on Prolonged Detention and Bond for Immigrants

3/27/18

By: Layli Eskandari Deal
Immigration has been a hot topic in the news lately due to the various issues being litigated in the Courts.  Recently the Supreme Court made a ruling on the issue of prolonged detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of immigrants who are in removal (deportation) proceedings.
In Jennings v. Rodriguez, 138 S.Ct. 830 (2018), the Supreme Court held that the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) authorizes the prolonged detention of certain noncitizens without a custody hearing during their removal cases.  This was a reversal of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that authorized detention only for six months, at which point, the detained individual must then receive a custody (bond) hearing before an Immigration Judge.  Post decision, the Supreme Court has remanded this case back to the Ninth Circuit for consideration of whether the 5th Amendment Due Process Clause entitles immigrants to a hearing over their prolonged detention.
This week the Supreme Court has agreed to review whether U.S. immigration laws allow ICE to indefinitely detain foreign nationals in the removal process if the person has previously committed crimes.  The case is Nielsen v. Preap.  Current laws allow ICE to take an individual into custody after they have served their criminal jail term prior to their release from prison.  A person detained immediately can then be held indefinitely.  The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that foreign nationals who are not promptly taken into custody must be given an opportunity to be released on bond.  The federal government argues the same rules should apply to individuals promptly taken into custody as those who are released from prison and then taken into custody at a later date.  We now await the Supreme Court’s decision on this type of detention.
For additional information related to this topic and for advice regarding how to navigate U.S. immigration laws you may contact Layli Eskandari Deal of the law firm of Freeman Mathis & Gary, LLP at (770-551-2700) or LDEAL@fmglaw.com.