Supreme Court To Hear Major Case On Trump Admin’s Detention Of Illegal Aliens; Supreme Court to Consider How Long Migrants Can be Held Pending Deportation

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Supreme Court To Hear Major Case On Trump Admin’s Detention Of Illegal Aliens

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to take up and decide a case involving a pivotal aspect of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.

As part of its weekly order list, the high court revealed that it has granted a request from the government to hold oral arguments in Genalo v. Black, presumably for its 2026-2027 term. At least four justices must agree to hear a case before it can be considered by the full court.

The case deals with the administration’s detention of to-be-deported illegal aliens under a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The matter more specifically deals with whether the government can keep aliens in detention indefinitely without a bond hearing based on pending deportation proceedings.

Genalo first came to fruition when Keisy G.M., a green card holder and Dominican national, was arrested in October 2020 after he was convicted for assault. According to SCOTUSblog, G.M. was in custody for 21 months as the administration aimed to deport him, and “was eventually released under an order issued by another court, but his challenge to his detention continued.”

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals sided with G.M. in 2024. The panel ruled that his detention “had become unreasonably prolonged” and that the “constitutional guarantee of due process precludes a noncitizen’s unreasonably prolonged detention under section 1226(c) [of the INA] without a bond hearing.”

The Trump administration petitioned the Supreme Court to take up the case in January. It asked the justices to address the question of whether “there is a point at which an alien’s detention under” the contested INA provision, “pending a decision on whether he is to be removed, becomes ‘unreasonably prolonged,’ such that due process requires a bond hearing.” It also asked the justices to answer “whether, if so, due process in such a bond hearing requires placing the burden on the government to justify the alien’s continued detention by clear and convincing evidence.” --->READ MORE HERE

AP Photo/Christian Chavez

Supreme Court to consider how long migrants can be held pending deportation:

The Supreme Court said Monday it will take up a case that tests how long the government can hold immigrants with serious criminal records in detention while it tries to deport them.

The justices will also hear a challenge to Florida’s use of six-person juries for some trials instead of the traditional 12-person jury. The outcome could impact five other states that also use six-member juries in non-death penalty cases.

The immigration case comes at a time when the administration is pushing to expand the boundaries of detention to carry out President Trump’s mass deportation orders. Detaining migrants is crucial to being able to remove them.

Many migrants the government tries to deport are entitled, under the law, to bond hearings. The issue before the justices in the new case is whether that applies to those with major criminal records, and if so, what burden of proof the government bears in arguing against the migrants’ release on bond.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had sided with illegal immigrants in two cases, ruling that there came a point at which their detention violated the Constitution because it was “unreasonably prolonged” and they had to be given bond hearings.

In one case, a Jamaican man with convictions of sexual abuse against a minor and endangering the welfare of a child had been held in immigration detention for seven months. In the other, a citizen of the Dominican Republic was held in immigration detention for 21 months after a second-degree assault conviction.

The judges also said the government bore the burden of proof in the bond hearing.

Both men remain in deportation proceedings, but, because they are no longer in custody, they are far down the government’s list of priority cases. 

U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the justices to step in and overturn the lower decision, calling it “deeply flawed” by elevating migrants’ “liberty interest” in being set free over the government’s interest in trying to deport people who have no right to be in the U.S.

“This court should grant review because the 2nd Circuit has held an act of Congress unconstitutional,” Mr. Sauer wrote. --->READ MORE HERE

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