The Trump administration has unveiled a sweeping new immigration policy that eliminates bond hearings for most undocumented immigrants—including those who have lived in the U.S. for years. The move dramatically expands Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s authority to detain individuals without the option of release while their deportation proceedings are underway.
According to an internal ICE memo dated July 8, acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons instructed agents to detain undocumented immigrants “for the duration of their removal proceedings,” effectively removing a key safeguard that previously allowed detainees to argue for release in front of an immigration judge.
The policy reverses longstanding practices. Previously, many undocumented immigrants could request bond hearings and be released while their cases moved through immigration court. Now, ICE and the Department of Justice say those individuals “may not be released from ICE custody,” except under rare parole circumstances.
Who’s Affected? Millions.
This change could impact millions of undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. over the last several decades—including during the Biden administration—and have since built lives, held jobs, and raised families in America.
“It’s requiring the detention of far more people without any real review of their individual circumstances,” said Greg Chen of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, warning of the potential human cost of mass detention.
Massive Expansion of Detention Capacity
To enforce the new policy, the federal government has approved a $45 billion budget expansion aimed at doubling the number of daily detentions from 56,000 to 100,000. ICE has already reopened previously closed family detention centers and begun setting up temporary holding facilities in isolated locations like the Arizona desert and Florida Everglades.
“Detention is absolutely the best way to approach this, if you can do it. It costs a lot of money, obviously,” said Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that supports stricter immigration controls. “But you’re pretty much guaranteed to be able to remove the person if there’s a negative finding.”
Legal and Human Rights Concerns Grow
Immigration attorneys and advocates say the policy puts hardworking, law-abiding residents at risk of indefinite detention with no opportunity to seek release.
“They are people who have been living here—working, paying taxes, raising children,” said immigration attorney Aaron Korthuis. “This isn’t just about enforcement. It’s about supercharging a detention system that’s already overburdened and deeply flawed.”
The legal basis for the policy lies in existing immigration statutes that require mandatory detention for unauthorized immigrants after arrest. However, the Trump administration’s new interpretation stretches that mandate far beyond its traditional application, which was typically limited to recent border crossers.
As of now, ICE has not clarified how many people have already been affected by the change, but immigrant communities and legal aid organizations are bracing for a sharp rise in arrests and prolonged detentions in the coming weeks.
