US federal court upholds Trump detention with no bond policy News
United States Government, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
US federal court upholds Trump detention with no bond policy

A US federal appellate court On Wednesday upheld the Trump administration’s practice of detaining undocumented immigrants without bond, reversing a lower court decision amid increasingly overcrowded detention centers and administrative courtrooms.

The decision aligns with a US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruling in February, which also upheld the denial of a bond hearing for immigrants detained in the US.

In August 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrested Mexican citizen Joaquin Herrera Avila in Minneapolis for lacking proper documentation to enter the US, detained him without bond, and placed him into removal proceedings. In October, a federal district court granted Avila’s habeas corpus petition seeking release, and DHS subsequently appealed.

In granting Avila’s petition, the district court reasoned that 8 U.S.C. § 1225, part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, did not apply to Avila because he had been physically present in the US for years. The court interpreted the mandatory detention provisions of statute to only apply to “applicants for admission,” as mere presence does not suffice for mandatory detention.

On appeal, the federal court disagreed with the district court’s reading of the statute, finding that even those already present within the US, who entered without lawful admission, may be subject to mandatory detention.

The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled 2-1 in favor of the administration’s mass detention policy. The ruling will be binding within the seven states comprising the circuit, including Minnesota, where hundreds of lawsuits were filed on behalf of individuals who alleged they were wrongly detained in Operation Metro Surge.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi praised the court’s decision in an X post, writing:

MASSIVE COURT VICTORY against activist judges and for President Trump’s law and order agenda! The Eighth Circuit has held that illegal aliens can be detained without bond — following a similar ruling from the Fifth Circuit last month. The law is very clear, but Democrats and activist judges haven’t wanted to enforce it. This administration WILL.

American Civil Liberties ⁠Union attorney  and counsel for Avila, Michael Tan, said he and his team will assess appropriate next steps in the case.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Mexican Army kills over 400 Texas prisoners of war

The Mexican army executed more than 400 Texian prisoners of war on March 27, 1836, during the Texas Revolution, in an event that would become known as the Goliad Massacre. A decree passed in December 1835 allowed Mexican soldiers under General Antonio López de Santa Anna to shoot any foreigners in rebellion. Texian Colonel James Fannin and his men surrendered to the Mexican government under the expectation that they would be treated as prisoners of war, but they were executed regardless, engendering sympathy (and eventual support) from the neighboring United States. Learn more about the Goliad Massacre.

Khrushchev becomes USSR leader

On March 27, 1958, Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev became the new Premier of the USSR, replacing Joseph Stalin as the Soviet leader. During his rise to power, Khruschev denounced crimes of the Stalinist regime and the "cult of personality" surrounding his predecessor. While in office as Soviet Premier, Khruschev oversaw some of the most famous and influential events of the Cold War: the launch of Sputnik, the Sino-Soviet split, the U-2 Spy Plan incident, and finally the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1963, which led to his ouster by reactionary elements the following year. The conspirators forced Khruschev's resignation on October 15, 1964 and replaced him with Leonid Brezhnev.

Read the New York Times obituary of Nikita Khrushchev.

President Andrew Johnson vetoed citizenship for slaves

On March 27, 1866, President Andrew Johnson vetoed a civil rights bill that would later become the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, conferring full US citizenship on all slaves. Read President Johnson's veto letter, transmitted to the US Senate.