If someone is detained by ICE, a bond hearing is often their only chance to ask a judge to let them go home while their case continues. Without a bond hearing, a person may stay in detention for months — or even longer. Lately there has been disagreement among judges on whether bond hearings can be denied to certain immigrants in court, and the disagreement has resulted in federal court litigation. 

What is a Bond?

An immigration bond is money paid to the government as a guarantee that the respondent (the non-citizen in immigration court) will:

• Attend all future immigration court hearings,

• Follow court orders, and

• Comply with immigration laws

What is an Immigration Bond Hearing?

An immigration bond hearing is a court hearing where an immigration judge decides whether a person who is being held in immigration detention can be released while their case is pending — and if so, how much bond must be paid.

Some people by law cannot get a bond hearing in immigration court, such as people with serious criminal convictions, people with prior removal orders, and certain recent arrivals, but for respondents who are eligible for a bond hearing, the court considers things like:

• Criminal history (if any)

• Past behavior

• Evidence of rehabilitation

• Family and community ties

• Length of time in the U.S.

• U.S. citizen or permanent resident family members

• Employment history

• Prior immigration history

• Whether they have attended past court hearings

If the judge believes the person is not a danger and not likely to flee, the judge can set a bond amount.

So, What’s Going on with Immigration Bond Hearings?

Last month a Reuters investigation revealed a troubling development in U.S. immigration courts: the Chief Immigration Judge instructed immigration judges not to follow federal court rulings that required bond hearings for certain detained noncitizens, even after judges had ruled them legally required.

Chief Immigration Judge Riley instructed immigration judges across the country to continue applying a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ruling from 2025 (Matter of Yajure Hurtado), which essentially concluded that many noncitizens, including those who have lived in the United States for years, are considered “applicants for admission” and therefore ineligible for bond — a dramatic shift from decades of more flexible practice. Under federal immigration law, applicants for admission to the United States are subject to mandatory detention while their cases proceed in immigration courts, but last year the Trump administration said that non-citizens already residing in the United States, and not only those who arrive at a port of entry at the border, would be considered applicants for admission.

In the last few months multiple federal judges ruled that the Trump administration’s interpretation of admission was contrary to law and that, as a result, immigration judges could not use the Hurtado ruling as a basis to deny bond, which ignited a legal battle over whether immigration courts must follow judicial rulings that contradict internal agency policy. 

This month an Appeals court ruled that the Trump administration’s practice of denying bond hearings was correct under the Constitution and current immigration law, and that “unadmitted aliens apprehended anywhere in the United States are ineligible for release on bond, regardless of how long they have resided inside the United States.”

While disappointing, this situation highlights the many different perspectives and interpretations of the law causing judges all across the country to make very different rulings from one another. With even federal judges making rulings contrary to one another, we anticipate that this bond issue may go up to the Supreme Court. 

The law around bond hearings and immigration detention is in rapid flux. What is policy today may not be the case in a few weeks. If you are facing detention, or have a family member in custody, staying informed and working with experienced legal counsel can make a life-changing difference.

If you would like immigration advice, or need help filing an immigration petition, you can reach us at (757) 422-8472, or send us a message on our website. You can also schedule an appointment with one of our attorneys by clicking on this link.