吃瓜大本营

The American Civil Liberties Union, New York Civil Liberties Union, MacArthur Justice Center, and Hecker Fink LLP are co-counsel in Genalo v. G.M. a case addressing unreasonably prolonged detention of immigrants and lack of due process.

In 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that Keisy G.M., a lawful permanent resident who had been subjected to mandatory detention for 21 months, could not be detained any longer without a hearing on whether he poses a flight risk or danger. That decision was consistent with the vast majority of federal court rulings on the government鈥檚 practice of detaining people for prolonged periods of time without any individual hearings.

The Trump administration appealed the ruling in January 2026 and on June 15 the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, setting oral argument for Oct. 13, 2026.

The Trump administration is taking a radical position the government has not taken in the 30 years since this mandatory detention statute, 8 U.S.C. 1226(c), was enacted by Congress. It says immigrants like Mr. G.M. do not have a protected liberty interest in not being locked up without a hearing 鈥� at a time when the administration is pushing hard to detain and deport as many immigrants as possible, often locking people away in inhumane ICE detention centers, where deaths are already at record levels.

On the government鈥檚 theory, it can lock up people under this mandatory detention statute for months, years, or even decades, without a hearing 鈥� as long as the removal case is still ongoing.

The government鈥檚 novel theory is contrary to our Constitution鈥檚 fundamental promise that the government cannot lock people up without due process. It is yet another example of the Trump administration鈥檚 ongoing campaign to demonize immigrants and expand the abusive ICE detention machine, including by stripping people of their rights. Whether that鈥檚 detaining record numbers of people, building new facilities out of converted warehouses, or racking up thousands of losses in court for cutting people off from bond hearings altogether.

The federal appeals court already got this right. In 2024, the Second Circuit ruled that once detention becomes 鈥渦nreasonably prolonged,鈥� the government has to come before a judge and show 鈥渃lear and convincing evidence鈥� that the immigrant would be a flight risk or a danger to the community if released, because no one in this country should be held indefinitely on the government's word alone.