ACLU Statement on Trump’s Plan to Use Military to Mass Deport Immigrants

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. 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.

First Circuit is the seventh appellate court to reject Trump administration's novel application of immigration detention statutes A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a ruling declaring that the Trump administration is unlawfully denying bond hearings to thousands of people arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New England. In 2025, the federal government abandoned its 29-year understanding of a 1996 law and announced that millions of noncitizens living in the United States would have no opportunity to ask for release on bond if detained by ICE. This new guidance defies decades of government practices, federal law, and fundamental due-process protections. It also exacerbates longstanding problems with immigration detention, including overcrowding, medical neglect, inadequate nutrition, and more. Last night, the First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a District Court ruling finding the new policy unlawful, reasoning that the federal government’s interpretation violated the relevant statutory text and congressional intent. "This ruling affirms that the Trump administration cannot unilaterally rewrite federal statutes to suit its political agenda," said Adriana Lafaille, managing attorney at the ACLU of Massachusetts. "This is especially important for matters of fundamental fairness, like the ability to seek release from detention. The federal government must follow the law, provide bond hearings to class members, and allow those who pose no danger or flight risk to be released while immigration courts decide their cases." With Thursday’s ruling, seven appellate courts and hundreds of District Court judges have now issued rulings holding that the Trump administration’s new policy of subjecting noncitizens living in the country to categorical detention without a bond hearing is unlawful. “I am gratified that the First Circuit upheld the rule of law, affirming what we have known since 1996: Immigrants, regardless of how they entered our country, are entitled to bond hearings. I am in awe of our client's courage to fight for what is right, securing not only his freedom but that of hundreds of other immigrants in New England,” said Annelise Araujo, founding principal and owner at Annelise Araujo Law. “We are pleased that the court is vindicating the rights of immigrants unlawfully detained in Maine and throughout New England,” said ACLU of Maine Legal Director Carol Garvan. “The government’s cruel mandatory detention policy stripped people of the chance to seek their freedom while indefinitely separating them from their loved ones, communities, and jobs. The policy also upended decades of standard civil immigration procedures, violating the clear language of federal law. The court's order today is clear: no administration is above the law. The government cannot arrest and detain people indefinitely without providing them with a hearing in front of a judge.” The petitioner and class in Guerrero Orellano v. Monizare represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, the ACLU, the ACLU of New Hampshire, the ACLU of Maine, Annelise Araujo Law, Foley Hoag, Anderson & Kreiger, and the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic. BACKGROUND The original complaint in this case was filed in September 2025 on behalf of Jose Arnulfo Guerrero Orellana and a class of similarly situated individuals. In October, the court granted a preliminary injunction and ordered a bond hearing for Mr. Guerrero Orellana, who was later released on bond. Later that month, the court certified a class of people arrested by federal immigration officials inside the United States and held in New England detention facilities. In December, the court grantedpartial summary judgment and rejected the government’s novel and erroneous statutory interpretation. As disclosed in subsequent court filings, the government’s chief immigration judge later instructed her colleagues to ignore declaratory judgments like the one entered in this case. Immigration judges have continued to systematically deny bond hearings to people arrested by ICE within the United States who are alleged to have entered without inspection, no matter how long the person has been in the country. This policy violates the plain language of the federal detention statutes and denies fundamental due process rights to potentially millions of people. Read the opinion here.

NEW ORLEANS — The full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans today dismissed W.M.M. v. Trump, a case challenging President Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. The court ruled the case was moot because plaintiffs have since been removed under immigration laws, not the Alien Enemies Act. The court did not rule on the merits of the lawsuit. The ruling stems from a case filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas challenging the president’s use of this centuries-old wartime act in peacetime. The Supreme Court previously blocked the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to remove Venezuelans who were being detained in northern Texas and told the Fifth Circuit to expedite the appeal, while keeping a stay in place. In September 2025, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit rejected the administration’s assertion that the wartime authority’s invocation was lawful because an “invasion or a predatory incursion has occurred.” The Trump administration then sought a hearing before the full appeals court, which heard the case in January 2026. The ACLU has other legal challenges to the Alien Enemies Act ongoing throughout the country. The following is reaction to today’s Fifth Circuit ruling: “The Supreme Court's injunction barring use of the Alien Enemies Act remains in place, which is essential because there are still people at risk of being wrongly removed under the act without due process. The Fifth Circuit decision also doesn’t change the fact that courts have overwhelmingly held that the use of this wartime authority during peacetime is unlawful,” said ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, who argued the case. The ruling is here.

The technology appears unlikely to constrain the immigration agencies; much more sweeping reforms are needed