4th Circuit Rejects Trump Migrant Detention Policy in 2-1 Ruling as 9 Appeals Courts Split Against ICE
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 10
4th Circuit Rejects Trump Migrant Detention Policy in 2-1 Ruling as 9 Appeals Courts Split Against ICE
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 10
Summary
A 2-1 Fourth Circuit panel ruled Thursday that ICE cannot broadly detain migrants without bond hearings, calling the policy a due-process violation tied to some of the country’s darkest precedents.
Judge Nicole Berner’s majority opinion said sweeping detention authority echoed the World War II internment of Japanese Americans, warning against executive detention of marginalized people without judicial safeguards.
The policy, announced in July 2025, sought to jail every migrant found in the U.S. whom ICE says lacked permission to enter, extending mandatory detention beyond recent border arrivals.
Nine federal appeals courts have now found the policy illegal, while two have upheld it, setting up a likely Supreme Court review after DHS already asked the justices to examine a similar Sixth Circuit loss.
DHS blasted the ruling as politically driven and said the policy ended Biden-era 'catch and release,' while immigrant-rights groups said the courts were reaffirming basic bond-hearing protections for longtime residents.