The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the U.S. government can continue to detain immigrants without bond, delivering a significant victory to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement policies. The decision overturns a lower court ruling that mandated bond hearings for detained immigrants, marking the second appellate court to side with the administration on this issue.
The case centers on Joaquín Herrera Ávila, a Mexican national apprehended in Minneapolis in August 2025 for lacking legal immigration status. The Department of Homeland Security detained Ávila without bond, prompting him to petition for release. A federal judge initially granted Ávila’s petition, but the 8th Circuit reversed that decision in a 2-1 ruling, asserting that Ávila's status as an "applicant for admission" justified his detention.
'The law is clear that an 'applicant for admission' is also an alien who is 'seeking admission,' and so Ávila couldn’t petition on these grounds,' wrote Circuit Court Judge Bobby E. Shepherd for the majority.
Circuit Court Judge Ralph R. Erickson dissented, arguing that Ávila would have been entitled to a bond hearing under previous interpretations of immigration law. The ruling aligns the 8th Circuit with the 5th Circuit, which issued a similar decision last month, and counters lower court rulings that deemed the practice unconstitutional.
Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the decision as a major win for the Trump administration's immigration agenda. Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents Ávila, has not yet commented on the ruling. The policy continues to draw scrutiny, with over 30,000 habeas corpus petitions filed by detained immigrants since Trump took office, many of which have succeeded in challenging their detention.