The Trump administration argues that the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the nation’s primary immigration statute, requires that any unauthorized immigrant detained on U.S. soil must be held without bond. Jose Arnulfo Guerrero Orellana, an immigrant from El Salvador who entered the country unlawfully in 2013, argues that the government’s position runs contrary to its own long-standing practice and the plain text of the law.
Since Congress reformed the INA in 1996, both Republican and Democratic administrations have treated virtually all immigrants detained within the U.S. as eligible for a bond hearing. But last July, the Department of Homeland Security issued a memo reinterpreting that provision, arguing instead that unauthorized immigrants were subject to mandatory detention. The Board of Immigration Appeals, an appellate immigration court that’s part of the executive branch, reaffirmed that rule in September.
Immigration detentions have surged as the Trump administration pushes its mass deportation agenda. In January 2025, the government held roughly 40,000 people in immigration detention. A year later, it held more than 68,000 people – a 70% increase, according to an analysis of government data by the American Immigration Council. The number of people held in immigration detention for more than a year increased from 938 at the end of October 2025 to 2,084 by the end of March 2026, public reports from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement show.
Related story, “Bad Food. Poor Care. No Toilets. ICE Detention Misery Pushes Immigrants to ‘Voluntarily’ Depart.” (arc)