Supreme Court to decide if non-citizens with criminal records can be held without bond hearings

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear a Trump administration appeal and decide whether non-citizens with aggravated felony convictions may be held indefinitely while they fight deportation. The case, scheduled for fall arguments, centers on two green card holders facing removal to the Dominican Republic and Jamaica after assault convictions classified as aggravated felonies under immigration law.

Background of the dispute Government lawyers argue that immigration statutes mandate detention based solely on the aggravated felony convictions, making bond hearings and individualized assessments of flight risk or danger irrelevant. A federal appeals court in New York had ruled that prolonged detention without a bond hearing violates constitutional due process protections when the individuals pose no demonstrated risk to public safety.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the two men, urged the Supreme Court to decline the appeal and pointed to prior court acceptance of a right to seek release on bond. One of the two individuals has since left the United States and returned to Jamaica.

Administration lawyers told the court that civil immigration detention does not implicate fundamental rights under the Due Process Clause and that mandatory detention applies based on the convictions alone.