Trump administration can hold ICE detainees without bond, appellate court rules

Appeals court rules ICE can hold detainees without bond

An appeals court ruled Wednesday Minnesota's federal judges were wrong with their habeas immigration rulings, but it's not going to lead to any mass re-arrests of immigrants previously swept up by ICE, and then released. FOX 9's Paul Blume has more.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A federal appeals court ruled the Trump Administration has the authority to detain immigrants without bond.

Court rules ICE can hold detainees without bond

Appeals panel rules judges misinterpreted immigration law

An appeals panel ruled that ICE did not wrongfully detain hundreds of immigrants in Minnesota. FOX 9 Investigator Paul Blume has more. 

What we know:

Federal district judges in Minnesota repeatedly found the Trump Administration wrongfully held ICE detainees without granting them bond hearings during Operation Metro Surge.

Joaquin Herrera Avila was apprehended in Minneapolis during a traffic stop last August.

He admitted that he had entered the country illegally and lacked documents authorizing his admission. 

He was held without bond while the Department of Homeland Security initiated removal proceedings.

Avila appealed, arguing in a habeas filing that he should be granted a bond hearing since he was not detained near the border and had already been living in the country for several years.

The U.S. District Court agreed that Avila was being unlawfully detained. Avila was granted a hearing and released on a $7,500 bond.

2-1 Appeals Court ruling

Dig deeper:

The Trump Administration then appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals as it was ramping up ICE operations in Minnesota.

The ICE surge this past winter ultimately led to hundreds of similar cases and rulings.

A three-judge panel —all Republican appointees —issued a split decision Wednesday in favor of the Trump Administration.

"The decision is disappointing," immigration attorney David Wilson, who represented Avila, told FOX 9. "It is hard to reconcile how over 100 judges and almost the entire federal bench agrees with our position, but the Eighth Circuit does not.  There are other avenues to pursue for detainees, and this case is far from done."

Same legal issue in 1,000 cases

Big picture view:

The case essentially came down to how much power the government has to detain people who are in the country illegally.

The panel found federal immigration law mandates the detention of people already living illegally inside the United States, not just those people arrested at the border.

U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen estimated that approximately 80% of the more than 1,000 habeas filings in Minnesota’s federal court system over the last several months hinged on this specific, legal issue.

"Today's decision by the Eighth Circuit means that about 1,000 orders for release of illegal aliens by federal judges in this district were flatly wrong," Rosen said. "Going forward, it means that our interpretation, that is, this U.S. Attorney's Office's interpretation of key immigration law was right. And going forward the judges of this district, I think, will be following the law correctly."

Likely headed to Supreme Court

The other side:

Circuit Judge Ralph Erickson, a Trump appointee, argued in dissent that five different presidential administrations, including the first Trump Administration, interpreted that ‘mandated detention’ only applied to immigrants arriving at the border.

However, the majority opinion stated that just because other administrations did not utilize their authority, does not mean the current administration does not have that power.

With so many habeas cases being filed across the country, many legal experts predict the issue will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.