Kathrine Frich
An agency spokesperson stated that the department strongly disagrees with the ruling
The justice system moves slowly, but it eventually forces every political agenda to face the rules.
When government officials try to test the boundaries of their power, the courts usually step in to draw a hard line.
A massive legal shift just happened down in New Orleans.
A hard deadline
A federal appeals court just blocked the current administration from locking up immigrants indefinitely. According to Reuters, the New Orleans-based court ruled that the government cannot hold people past 90 days without offering a bond hearing.
The divided 2-1 decision directly hits a major part of President Donald Trump’s strict border strategy.
Thousands of individuals currently held by customs enforcement across Texas and Louisiana will immediately benefit from this ruling.
Changing the rules
Federal officials started using a creative legal interpretation last year.
Reuters reported that the government began treating long-term residents exactly like new border arrivals. This specific label changed everything. It meant authorities could lock people away while their complex deportation cases moved slowly through the system.
The new court order completely shatters that strategy by leaning heavily on the Constitution.
U.S. Circuit Judge Leslie Southwick wrote the majority opinion. He noted that the founding document protects everyone living within American borders.
Divided opinions
“It is part of the historic majesty of this long-ago founding charter that it makes no exceptions in providing basic rights to those within our boundaries, including a right to be heard when personal liberty is taken,” Southwick stated.
Not everyone on the bench agreed with that generous view. U.S. Circuit Judge Cory Wilson aggressively pushed back against the decision.
He argued that “the majority marginalizes the Constitution’s express grant of plenary authority over immigration matters to Congress.”
Taking the fight
Civil rights lawyers immediately celebrated the federal victory.
Attorney Rebecca Cassler released a statement to Reuters. She noted her team was thrilled that the judges “are delighted that the panel recognized the core constitutional principle that the due process clause does not allow the government to lock them away indefinitely.”
The Department of Homeland Security totally rejects the court order.
An agency spokesperson stated that the department strongly disagrees with the ruling “and is confident in its legal position regarding mandatory detention.”
The Trump administration has already asked the Supreme Court to step in. They want the highest court to settle this fierce legal battle once and for all.
Sources: Reuters
