Posted originally on CTH on February 6, 2026 | Sundance

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has made a massive ruling in favor of President Trump and the ICE removal process [pdf Ruling Here].  In short, throughout the nation 360 immigration judges had previously ruled that illegal aliens (applicants for admission) should be granted bond and released during the removal proceedings.

The Fifth CCA has now ruled the aliens can be detained as they go through the removal process.  This means ICE captures the illegal, holds them in detention and then rapidly deports them.  The ruling, which will likely be appealed to the supreme court, fast-tracks the removal.

[SOURCE]

(VIA POLITICO) – […] At the heart of the issue is a 30-year-old immigration statute that requires the detention — without bond — of all “applicants for admission” to the United States while they are “seeking admission” to the country. For decades, administrations of both parties applied this to people who had newly arrived in the country, perhaps by crossing the southern border.

Those residing in the country’s interior, often for years, were categorized under a different statute that allowed them to seek a bond hearing before an immigration judge before ICE could lock them up.

But in July, ICE Director Todd Lyons adopted a new interpretation of the law, declaring that anyone targeted for deportation by ICE would be treated as an “applicant for admission,” subjecting them to mandatory detention. That decision was backed up in October by the Board of Immigration Appeals, a panel of immigration judges who set national policy for executive branch-run immigration courts that handle deportation proceedings. (more)

This issue was a big deal during the 2012 “Unauthorized Alien Children” influx, when President Obama and DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson began releasing all the captured illegal aliens with a bond hearing.  Thousands of temporary judges were assigned and NGO’s provided tens of thousands of lawyers for everyone so the illegal entrants could quickly exit ICE custody.

Later, as an expanded part of the Obama and Biden directive, the border patrol just started issuing citations on the spot for court appearances and letting the illegal aliens go into the country.  Now, all illegal aliens will be subject to continued detention as soon as they are captured, pending removal.