ACLU Comment on Senators Joining Bipartisan Visa Waiver Fix Effort

DENVER — The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a Trump administration policy on Tuesday, June 30, that mandated the detention of Rigoberto Santillan-Quiroz, a longtime U.S. resident, without bond. The court ordered a bond hearing for Santillan-Quiroz, who, after eight months of detention, will finally have an opportunity to demonstrate that there is no justification for his continued detention. The Tenth Circuit’s ruling joins three appeals courts and decisions from over 450 district court judges across the country. Judges have mandated that the Trump administration release many of these immigrants from detention, routinely finding that their categorical detention without a bond hearing is unlawful. “Every person has rights protected by the Constitution, no matter the color of our skin, the languages we speak, or our immigration status,” said Travis Handler, ACLU of Oklahoma legal fellow. “With this order, the court unanimously found that all people residing within the Tenth Circuit who are detained by ICE are entitled to a bond hearing and, absent special circumstances, are eligible for release on bond. This is a huge step toward ending the mass deportation machine. We will continue to hold this administration accountable and fight for the safety of our communities.” Santillan-Quiroz has lived in the U.S. for about twenty years, is married to a legal permanent resident, and has a U.S. citizen stepdaughter. He was detained in November 2025 after a traffic stop and held without bond per the Trump administration’s new policy, despite not being a flight risk nor a danger to public safety. Santillan-Quiroz filed a habeas petition seeking his release. A magistrate judge recommended a bond hearing and his release, but an Oklahoma district court ultimately denied his habeas petition. Santillan-Quiroz, with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, ACLU of Oklahoma, ACLU of Colorado, and immigration attorney Kelli Stump appealed the district court’s decision in January 2026. "This is a huge victory for thousands of people currently being held without access to bond in immigration detention centers across Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. These individuals are now entitled to have the bond hearings that should result in release for many after months of being wrongfully held by ICE,” said Tim Macdonald, ACLU of Colorado legal director. “This ruling from the Tenth Circuit sends a message that the Trump administration cannot unilaterally change the law and create unlawful policies that violate the rights of immigrants in our country and deny them fundamental fairness and due process.” In July 2025, the Trump administration issued new guidance that denies bond to people in detention while their immigration cases proceed in court, impacting millions of people in the country. This new guidance defies longstanding Department of Homeland Security (DHS) practices, federal law, and fundamental due process protections. It also exacerbates longstanding problems with immigration detention, including overcrowding, medical neglect, inadequate nutrition, and more. “The courts have once again correctly rejected the government’s attempt at rewriting our immigration laws to categorically deny immigrants like Mr. Santillan-Quiroz their right to basic review of their detention,” said My Khanh Ngo, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, who argued the appeal. “This order checks that executive overreach and we are thrilled that our client will finally have the chance to be reunited with his family.” "Immigration detention is intended to ensure appearance at proceedings — not to impose punishment before a case is decided," said Kelli Stump, Santillan-Quiroz' initial habeas attorney and co-immigration counsel. "The Tenth Circuit's decision recognizes that liberty cannot depend on a blanket policy. Every person deserves an individualized determination based on the law and the facts, and that is exactly what Congress required."

The Supreme Court ruling held that President Donald Trump’s effort to get rid of birthright citizenship violated the constitution and federal law.

MIAMI — Immigrants’ rights advocates applaud the announced closure of the notorious Everglades detention center, cruelly dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” known for the horrific and unsafe conditions faced by immigrants being held there. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the closure during a press conference today, just days after reports emerged that people detained at the facility were being transferred to other ICE detention facilities ahead of hurricane season. The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Florida, and Americans for Immigrant Justice had sued over the facility last July, challenging the lack of access to legal counsel and violations of due process for people held there. The site is a hastily constructed facility on an abandoned airstrip in the middle of the wetlands in Ochopee. It was built out of shoddy tents and trailers, and surrounded by alligators, pythons, mosquitos, and swampland, and at serious risk of dangerous flooding. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of detainees held there, on behalf of a class, and legal service providers with clients there. While pleased with news of the detention center’s permanent closure, the groups also urge caution. “The fact that this site ever existed is a travesty, given the cruelty behind it, horrific conditions, and blatant violations of due process. We challenged the Trump administration and the State of Florida over the facility, and now celebrate its closure,” said Carmen Iguina González, deputy director for immigration detention with the ACLU’s National Prison Project. “However, the nightmarish scene found at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ is not wholly unique and reflects systemic patterns of abuse at other ICE detention facilities nationwide. We remain very concerned that people may be transferred to other sites with sordid and dangerous conditions, and we will continue to monitor this situation.” “With its official closure, 'Alligator Alcatraz' seals its reputation as a ruinous venture. This detention center stands as a monument to what happens when a state government abandons its conscience in service of a federal cruelty agenda. The DeSantis administration deliberately built a detention facility in the middle of the Everglades — not despite the harsh conditions, but because of them — and spent over $1 billion of Florida taxpayers' money to do it,” said Keisha Mulfort, deputy executive director and strategy officer of the ACLU of Florida. “That is not governance; that is cruelty dressed up as policy, and complicity dressed up as leadership. In spite of this, hundreds of thousands of Floridians protested, organized, called their legislators, and refused to look away. They made this moment possible, and we should name that clearly: this is what accountability looks like when the government won't hold itself accountable. As people are transferred to other facilities, the abuses do not disappear — they relocate. The ACLU of Florida will follow. We will not allow this administration, or any administration, to simply shuffle the harm out of sight and call it progress. Our vigilance does not end with a closure. It deepens.” “Closing this facility is an important step, but the government's obligation to respect due process does not end at the facility gates. Constitutional rights must follow every person wherever they are detained," said Paul R. Chavez, Director of Litigation & Advocacy at Americans for Immigrant Justice. "These failures are not an isolated case — they reflect systemic failures throughout our immigration detention system. We remain deeply concerned that people transferred out of this facility will continue to face mistreatment and civil rights violations in other detention centers. Americans for Immigrant Justice will continue to defend due process, offer free legal representation to low-income immigrants and stand strong with our immigrant neighbors, friends, and their families.” This press release is here: https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/immigrants-rights-advocates-applaud-permanent-closure-of-everglades-detention-center-cruelly-dubbed-alligator-alcatraz  

Hundreds of people at an immigration facility in New Jersey protested spoiled food, medical neglect, and other inhumane conditions. They were joined by people detained in horrific conditions across the country.