ICE Tightens Bond Rules For Long-Term Undocumented Immigrants

Tone & Political Bias: Strongly Right-Leaning

Why: The article emphasizes enforcement, uses language framing immigrants as criminals, and prominently features quotes from Trump administration officials while minimizing dissenting views.

What Changed

The Trump administration has enacted a policy shift that significantly limits the ability of many undocumented immigrants to seek release from detention. Under new guidance, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is now arguing that certain detainees are categorically ineligible for bond hearings, removing immigration judges' authority to release them.

Key Change in Detention Rules

ICE is reinterpreting a 1990s-era immigration statute to expand who must be held in mandatory detention.

Noncitizens who were not formally admitted into the U.S., including those who entered illegally at or between ports of entry, now fall under Section 235 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
This section states that such individuals "shall be detained," effectively eliminating bond hearing eligibility for many.
Previously, only recent border-crossers and certain criminal offenders were automatically detained without bond hearings.

From Bond Hearings to ICE Parole

Before the change, long-term undocumented immigrants could request bond hearings to argue they were not flight risks or threats to public safety.

Judges could then decide whether to allow them to remain free while their cases proceeded.
Under the new policy, only ICE officials — not judges — can decide to release detainees, via "parole," which is rarely granted.

Internal Legal Shift Led to Change

Sources told CBS News the policy stems from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Justice Department "revisiting" their legal interpretation of detention authority.

A memo circulated within DHS reportedly instructs officials to implement the stricter interpretation immediately.
ICE confirmed the guidance publicly, saying it ensures equal treatment under longstanding immigration law and closes a “loophole” in prior policy.

Massive Funding Expansion via New Law

The changes come just after President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law.

The law grants $75 billion to ICE alone, as part of broader immigration and border enforcement funding.
The agency plans to use the funds to hire 10,000 new deportation officers and expand detention capacity to hold over 100,000 people simultaneously.
As of this week, ICE is detaining over 58,000 people awaiting deportation proceedings.

Administration’s Framing and Rationale

Officials are presenting the move as a return to the letter of the law.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the policy aligns with the law “as it was actually written.”
She described critics as “politicians and activists” who are “crying wolf.”
The administration’s messaging portrays detainees as criminals and national security threats, asserting that tougher detention rules enhance public safety.

Legal and Human Rights Concerns Raised

Critics warn the new rules will harm thousands of nonviolent immigrants.

Greg Chen from the American Immigration Lawyers Association says the blanket detention rule strips judges of discretion.
According to Chen, ICE has already begun applying the new rules in more than a dozen immigration courts, leading to automatic detention for many who previously qualified for release.
“This automatic detention rule means hundreds of thousands of people will be deprived of their liberty, even if there’s no need for them to be detained,” Chen said.