Federal judges in Minnesota, across U.S., reject ICE attempts to hold immigrants without bond

Federal judges in Minnesota and across the U.S. are rejecting the Trump administration’s claims that immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally are ineligible for bond hearings and belong in mandatory detention.

It’s part of a policy change by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to boost the number of immigrants in detention since President Donald Trump returned to office promising mass deportations. More than 1,000 immigrants in Minnesota have been detained since January, and a growing number are being held without an opportunity to post bond.

The policy is a departure from 30 years of court precedent, which allowed people in immigration proceedings to post bond if they have no criminal record, are not considered dangerous and are not a flight risk. A person’s ability to challenge detention is part of the constitutionally protected right to due process.

Nationwide, federal judges have decided 177 cases in favor of immigrants who were denied a bond hearing or release on bail, according to David Wilson, a Minneapolis attorney whose office has about 20 habeas corpus cases. As of Oct. 31, judges ruled in favor of the government just nine times.

Wilson is working with attorneys across the country to push back on the government’s efforts to deny immigrants key rights, available to everyone in the U.S.

“Everyone deserves the right to be heard,” Wilson said. “When we deny people that, we are no better than where they came from.”

He says federal judges appointed by both Democrats and Republicans agree that most immigrants in the country illegally are still eligible for a bond hearing.

U.S. Department of Justice officials declined to comment.

Wilson argues Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is using mandatory detention in a punitive way against immigrants to “squeeze people to get them to abandon potentially meritorious cases.”

Jose Andres Robles, 34, of Minneapolis, was held in ICE custody at the Freeborn County Jail in Albert Lea for a month without a bond hearing. Wilson and his colleague Olivia Anderson-Petroske persuaded a federal judge Oct. 27 to order the immigration court in Ft. Snelling to hold one.

Robles has lived in the U.S. six years and has no criminal record. He said the hardest part about being detained was being separated from his wife, Guillermina, and three kids Deysi, 7, Santiago, 2, and Diana, 8 months.

“It destroyed my soul,” Robles said in Spanish. “I felt like my head was going to explode.”

His doctor recommended he see a counselor to help him deal with the emotional impact.

Robles’ extended family was able to raise the $10,000 needed to bail him out of jail and reunite him with his family. His cousin, Fabiola Rodriguez, said everyone in the family pitched in to raise money for his bond.

“We are a close family. Whenever something happens we try to find a way,” Rodriguez said.

Robles’ attorneys don’t believe he should have been detained in the first place. His two youngest children are U.S. citizens and he’s been granted a work permit while his visa application is being processed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

ICE arrested Robles Sept. 30 while he was on his way to his construction job. Under a new policy put in place in this summer, immigration officials argued that because Robles crossed the border illegally in 2019, he should be detained until his case was decided.

Days after Trump signed a budget reconciliation bill in July that included $170 billion for immigration enforcement and $45 billion for detention, federal lawyers began arguing that immigrants who entered the country “without inspection” by border patrol agents could be held without a bond hearing.

When immigration judges did set bond, government attorneys often file an appeal to block people’s release.

About 60% of immigrants in the country illegally crossed the border without permission, a misdemeanor. The other 40% entered lawfully and overstayed their visas, which is a civil violation.

Federal attorneys now say no matter how long someone has been in the country, the person remains an “applicant for admission” and should be detained under the law. Previously, while bond was far from guaranteed, immigrants in detention typically had a chance to make their case before a judge.

In a Nov. 4 decision explaining her order that Robles receive a bond hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Brasel wrote that “courts across the country have almost universally rejected” the government’s new rationale.

Brasel found that the government’s actions violated both federal immigration laws and the Fifth Amendment’s due process protections. Federal judges across the nation have rebuked the government’s action in similar rulings.

Class action lawsuits in several states are challenging immigration officials’ push towards mandatory detention. The Trump administration is also appealing rulings against the new policy.

Immigration lawyers say there are not enough of them to help everyone being held without a bond hearing. For every one person who is freed, dozens more are stuck in jail.

Rodriguez said several other lawyers turned down Robles’ case and the family was fortunate to connect with Wilson and Anderson-Petroske. It’s almost impossible to fight mandatory detention without an attorney.

Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid is one of a few Minnesota nonprofits helping immigrants who cannot pay for representation. They’re looking for attorneys to take pro bono cases.

“It’s not hopeless,” Alison Griffith, supervising attorney for the nonprofit said. “If there’s a long legal fight, we’re here to fight it.”

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