Did ICE end bond hearings?

This is information, not legal advice.

This guide explains the general rules. What they mean for your family member depends on their circumstances. Answer a few questions to check their situation.

What changed, in one paragraph

For decades, someone arrested by ICE inside the country after entering without inspection was held under section 236(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which allows release on bond and lets an immigration judge review ICE’s decision. In July 2025, ICE told its officers to treat these people as “applicants for admission” under section 235(b)(2)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A), a provision that requires detention and has no bond. In September 2025 the Board of Immigration Appeals adopted the same reading in Matter of Yajure Hurtado, 29 I&N Dec. 216 (BIA 2025), which tells immigration judges they have no power to hold a bond hearing for this group. That holds no matter how many years the person has lived here.

Who the policy covers, and who it does not

The policy turns on how someone came into the country, not on their record or their family.

• Covered: people who entered without being inspected and admitted — usually by crossing between ports of entry — and were later arrested inside the country.
• Often covered: people who were paroled in at the border rather than admitted. Parole is not an admission, and DHS treats many of them the same way.
• Not covered by this policy: people who were admitted, for example on a tourist or student visa, and stayed past it. They were inspected and admitted, so the ordinary bond rules still apply.
• Separate rules entirely: people with certain criminal charges or convictions (mandatory detention under section 236(c), including the 2025 Laken Riley Act categories), and people with a final removal order.

To see which box ICE put your family member in, look at the Notice to Appear. It has three checkboxes: an “arriving alien,” someone “present in the United States who has not been admitted or paroled,” or someone who was “admitted” but is removable. The middle box is the one this policy targets.

Where bond hearings still happen

Immigration judges have to follow the federal appeals court for the place where the person is detained, even over the Board. Most appeals courts that have looked at the July 2025 policy rejected it. As of September 10, 2026:

• Bond hearings available in the First, Second, Third, Sixth, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits. That includes New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, California, Arizona, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Georgia and Florida.
• No bond hearing from an immigration judge in the Fifth Circuit (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi) and the Eighth Circuit (Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas).
• Unsettled in the Seventh Circuit (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin), where the court did not reach a majority.
• No ruling yet in the Fourth Circuit (Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, West Virginia) and the D.C. Circuit. There the Board’s rule governs in immigration court and the route is federal court.

The state-by-state detail, with the cases, is kept up to date in can a detained person ask for a bond hearing? The Ninth Circuit’s opinion in Rodriguez Vazquez v. Bostock (July 30, 2026) surveys the whole split if you want to read it.

What the Supreme Court will decide

On October 1, 2026 the Court agreed to hear Rhoney v. Barbosa da Cunha, No. 26-104. It comes from the Second Circuit. Ricardo Barbosa da Cunha, a Brazilian national who entered around 2004 or 2005 and was picked up at a traffic stop, got a bond hearing and was released on bond in October 2025. The government is asking the Court to hold that people in that position can be held without one.

The question is narrow: whether section 235(b)(2)(A) or section 236(a) governs someone who entered without inspection and was arrested in the interior. A decision is expected by the end of the Court’s term, usually late June, so by mid-2027. Until then, nothing changes. The grant itself does not stop bond hearings in the circuits that allow them.

What to do now

The practical answer depends on the state where they are held.

If they are held in a circuit where bond is available

• Ask for a bond hearing right away. The detained person can ask on the Form I-286 ICE gave them, out loud at their first court date, or in a short written request to the court. See a sample motion for a bond hearing.
• If the judge says they lack jurisdiction under Yajure Hurtado, say that the circuit has ruled otherwise and name the case. The judge is bound by it.
• Prepare the evidence before the hearing, not after. Bond is still discretionary. Through August 2026, judges granted bond in 20,258 of 66,620 bond hearings, about 30 percent (TRAC). The sponsor letter, proof of address and proof of ties carry the hearing. See what happens at a bond hearing.

If they are held in the Fifth or Eighth Circuit, or where no circuit has ruled

• An immigration judge will say no. The route is a habeas corpus petition in the federal district court where they are held.
• Federal district judges are not bound by the Board. Since late 2025 they have ruled thousands of times that ICE was holding someone unlawfully, and in many districts they have granted most of the petitions they decided (Michigan Public). In the Fifth and Eighth Circuits that court is bound by its own circuit, so the argument there rests on the Constitution rather than the statute.
• The detained person can file it themselves. See how to file a habeas petition.

Wherever they are held

• Write down the facility, city and state. That fixes the circuit. How to find someone in ICE detention covers it.
• Watch for transfers. Moving someone from New Jersey to Louisiana moves them from a bond circuit to a no-bond circuit. A bond request goes to the court over the place of detention (8 C.F.R. § 1003.19(c)), and a habeas petition is usually tied to the district where the person was when it was filed. If there is any warning of a move, file before it.
• Photograph the Notice to Appear and the I-286. They show which detention category ICE is using.

Questions people also ask

Is the no-bond policy still in effect?

ICE still applies it, and immigration judges follow it wherever no federal appeals court has overruled it. In circuits that have ruled against it, judges are bound by the circuit and hold bond hearings. The Supreme Court took the case on October 1, 2026, which does not change anything until it rules.

Does the policy apply to people who came on a visa and overstayed?

By its own terms, no. It is aimed at people who were never inspected and admitted. Someone admitted on a visa who stayed past it was admitted, and the ordinary bond rules under section 236(a) still apply to them. Check the Notice to Appear: it says which category ICE put them in.

When will the Supreme Court decide?

The case is Rhoney v. Barbosa da Cunha, No. 26-104. Cases granted at the start of a term are usually argued that winter and decided by the end of June, so expect a decision by mid-2027.

If an immigration judge cannot hold a bond hearing, is there any other way out?

Yes. A habeas corpus petition in federal district court asks a federal judge, who is not bound by the immigration courts’ rule, to order release or a bond hearing. Federal judges have granted thousands of these since 2025. ICE can also release on its own authority, through parole or release on conditions.

Can a transfer to another state change whether they get a bond hearing?

Yes. A bond request goes to the immigration court covering the place of detention, and that court follows its own circuit. A move into the Fifth or Eighth Circuit can take bond off the table. File any habeas petition before a move if there is warning of one.

Find out if bond is open where they are held

Check your family member’s situation to see which release options may apply, what to do next, and which documents to gather.