Another Federal Appeals Court Rejects Trump Mandatory Detention Policy

PHILADEPHIA — Another federal appeals court has rejected the Trump administration’s new policy subjecting millions of immigrants to mandatory detention without access to bond hearings.

Today’s ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit stems from a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Pennsylvania, ACLU of New Jersey, and the law firm of Palladino, Isbell & Casazza, LLC. The case is Buele Morocho v. Warden Philadelphia FDC.

The Third Circuit decision joins similar rulings from seven other federal appeals courts and hundreds of district court judges in finding the policy unlawful.

For decades, immigrants in removal proceedings who were detained by the government have generally had the right to seek release by an immigration judge. In mid-2025, the Trump administration suddenly adopted a new radical reinterpretation of the immigration laws and declared that anyone who entered without inspection must be detained without access to bond.

Among those who were affected were people eligible for legal status, even those with long-pending immigration applications who have been waiting years due to administrative backlogs.

The following is reaction to today’s ruling:

“The courts have repeatedly and resoundingly rejected the Trump administration’s radical reinterpretation of our country’s detention laws. This ruling is another critical victory against the administration’s cruelty and disrespect for the rule of law. We are thrilled for our clients and their families,” said Michael Tan, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.

“Even before the Trump administration began its campaign to detain every person it could round up, immigration detention was a cruel and unnecessary practice,” said Vanessa Stine, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “But denying bond hearings to the individuals ICE detains is an alarming trend that is blatantly at odds with the plain text of the statute and the Constitution’s guarantee of due process. We applaud today’s decision and look forward to continuing the fight to end the Trump administration’s dangerous and unconstitutional targeting of immigrant communities.”

“This ruling underscores that this administration cannot make up its own rules in order to lock up huge numbers of people without a bond hearing,” said Farrin Anello, senior counsel for the ACLU of New Jersey. “We applaud the court’s careful and painstaking analysis of the statutes in question and its conclusion that the government must follow the plain language of the law and the Constitution in order to take away someone’s freedom. Today is a win for immigrants’ rights and the rule of law.”

“Within the Third Circuit, this decision puts an end to a year-long campaign by the administration to indefinitely detain human beings without due process. We feel incredibly fortunate to have co-counseled with this legal team on this case,” said Christopher M. Casazza, attorney with Palladino, Isbell & Casazza, LLC.

The ruling is here.
This press release is here.