April 29, 2026 (New Orleans, Louisiana) — On April 29, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard oral arguments in a series of cases that could determine whether people can be held in immigration detention centers without any chance to contest why they are being held while their cases proceed.
At issue is a fundamental constitutional principle: whether people have the right to a meaningful opportunity to challenge their detention.
The Fifth Circuit previously ruled that immigration law allows the government to detain anyone who did not enter the country lawfully, including longtime U.S. residents with strong family or community ties, without giving them the opportunity to do so. Now, the government is asking the court to reverse a lower court’s ruling that the three men, who have lived in the country for more than 10 years, have a constitutional right to challenge their immigration detention.
“The government is arguing that it can keep people in immigration detention centers without having to justify it,” said Rebecca Casler, senior litigation attorney at the American Immigration Council, who argued the case. “This would further intensify mass incarceration at a time when record numbers of people are dying in already overcrowded and abuse-prone facilities. It means that millions of people who have been in the United States for years or even decades and have deep ties to this country could be thrown into prison without a real chance to argue for release. That should concern anyone who believes in basic constitutional protections.”
At the center of these cases are three U.S. citizen fathers, all longtime Texas residents with no criminal records, who were arrested after a routine traffic stop and immediately locked up without anyone considering whether their detention was necessary. The American Immigration Council and the National Immigration Project argued on behalf of the three men in the Fifth Circuit, and the cases were consolidated for appeal.
In 2025, under the Trump administration’s radical new interpretation of immigration law, ICE stopped granting certain detained immigrants the opportunity to be released from custody as their immigration cases progressed. In hundreds of lawsuits across the country, federal judges have found the policy to be in violation of the law.
But the Fifth Circuit, the federal appeals court that covers Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, the states with the largest numbers of immigrant detainees, ruled in February that the government’s interpretation is permissible under federal immigration law. Nevertheless, lower courts have ruled that immigrants like the three at the center of this case can challenge their detention on constitutional grounds. The government is now asking the Fifth Circuit to rule that most immigrants do not have a constitutional right to seek release from detention while their cases are pending.
“The people who are trapped under this policy are parents, neighbors, and community members who have been part of this country for years,” said Ellie Norton, chief attorney at the National Immigration Project. “The government wants a blank check that allows it to jail anyone it chooses without having to look a judge in the eye and explain why. This is authoritarian detention and a dramatic break from decades of legal precedent.”
The right to challenge a government’s decision to detain someone is a cornerstone of the U.S. justice system and ensures that the government cannot continue to lock up people who pose no danger to the community or risk of flight. The Trump administration has argued that most immigrants should not have this right, setting a dangerous precedent for our democracy and the limits of government power.
“This case tests a basic constitutional principle that the government must be justified in depriving someone of their freedom,” Casler said. “Without that safeguard, people will be locked up even when detention is not necessary, without any meaningful opportunity to challenge it.”
The American Immigration Council is working to create a more welcoming and fair immigration system. Through litigation, research, and programs that expand access to legal aid, the Council welcomes immigrants, enriches communities, and helps ensure justice prevails for all. Follow us on BlueSky @immcouncil.org and on Instagram @immcouncil.
The National Immigration Project is a membership organization of attorneys, advocates, and community members who believe that all people should be treated with dignity, live freely, and thrive. We litigate, advocate, educate, and build bridges across movements to ensure that those most impacted by our immigration and criminal systems are uplifted and supported. For more information, visit nipnlg.org. Follow the National Immigration Project on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, and threads at @NIPNLG.
