U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is directing attorneys to no longer allow bond hearings for those in the U.S. illegally, forcing them to remain in detention while fighting their deportation.
A new memo, confirmed by the agency and the Department of Homeland Security, said migrants should be detained “for the duration of their removal proceedings,” a process that can take months or years.
Immigrants typically can move to be released on bond if they are not determined to be a public safety threat.
A new memo from acting ICE Director Todd Lyons would largely end that practice, likely swelling the number of people held in detention centers as the Trump administration ramps up enforcement and targets more long-term residents.
An ICE spokesperson framed the memo as “clos[ing] a loophole to our nation’s security based on an inaccurate interpretation of the statute.”
The Washington Post first reported the memo.
The move comes as the so-called Big, Beautiful Bill sets aside $45 billion in new funding to more than double current detention capacity, allowing the U.S. to hold more than 100,000 people in immigration detention.
The Department of Homeland Security referenced the funding in the bill as aiding their efforts to detain those fighting their deportation implying without evidence that all those held without bond have criminal backgrounds.
“Politicians and activists can cry wolf all they want, but it won’t deter this administration from keeping these criminals and lawbreakers off American streets—and now thanks to the Big Beautiful Bill, we will have plenty of bed space to do so,” Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
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