A federal appeals court on Thursday compared the Trump administration's sweeping immigration detention policy to some of the darkest chapters in United States history, including the World War II internment of Japanese Americans, as it ruled that longtime undocumented immigrants are entitled to bond hearings while fighting deportation. In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit rejected the administration's argument that millions of immigrants who entered the country unlawfully could be held in mandatory detention without access to bond hearings.
The ruling adds to a growing split among federal appeals courts that could ultimately force the Supreme Court to resolve the issue. Writing for the majority, Judge Berner, a Biden appointee, said the government's interpretation of federal immigration law raised profound concerns because it could subject millions of people living in the U.S. to detention without bond. Judge Barbara Milano Keenan, an Obama appointee, joined the opinion, while Judge Allison Jones Rushing, appointed by President Donald Trump, dissented.
"Mass detention of marginalized individuals without due process harkens back to some of the darkest moments in our country's history," Berner wrote. The judge pointed to the detention of Chinese immigrants under the Geary Act in the 1890s and the wartime internment of Japanese Americans, noting that nearly 120,000 people were sent to internment camps during World War II. "The stain of these detentions on our nation—and the judiciary's abdication of its obligation to protect basic freedoms—continues to haunt us," the opinion said.
The court argued that those historical detention programs were "limited in scope" compared with the detention authority the government claimed Congress created through a disputed interpretation of immigration law. "We decline to do so," the judges wrote. Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for comment via email.
The case stems from a 2025 policy shift by the Trump administration that sought to place many undocumented immigrants under a section of federal immigration law requiring detention during removal proceedings. Before that change, immigrants already living in the U.S. generally fell under a separate provision that allowed them to seek release through immigration bond hearings. The plaintiffs, Oscar Enrique Lopez Garcia and Juan Jose Rivera, had each lived in the U.S. for decades before being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2025.
The government did not argue either man posed a danger to the community or a flight risk, but they were initially denied bond hearings under the administration's new interpretation. The Fourth Circuit concluded that immigrants in their position must be detained under a section of law that permits bond hearings rather than one requiring mandatory detention. The court therefore upheld lower-court rulings ordering that they be given the opportunity to seek release.
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