In a landmark victory for law and order and President Trump’s iron-fisted immigration enforcement, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit just slammed the door shut on radical left-wing attempts to force catch-and-release policies on illegal aliens already roaming free inside America.
The 8th Circuit overturned a Minnesota activist district judge’s outrageous ruling that would have handed bond hearings to illegal aliens like Joaquin Herrera Avila, a repeat border invader from Mexico who snuck into the U.S. illegally in 2006 and again in 2016.
The 8th Circuit ruled that aliens present in the United States without lawful admission are “applicants for admission” and “seeking admission” under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A), meaning ICE can detain them without bond while removal proceedings grind forward.
No more free rides. No more taxpayer-funded bond hearings for people who shouldn’t be here in the first place.
Writing for the majority, Judge Shepherd shredded the district court’s activist reasoning and aligned the 8th Circuit with the 5th Circuit’s recent decision in Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi.
Read here:
The court made it crystal clear that if you’re an illegal alien who entered without inspection or admission, you are not some protected long-term resident entitled to special treatment. You are subject to mandatory detention under the law Congress wrote.
In August 2025, DHS agents nabbed Avila during a traffic stop in Minneapolis. He admitted he had no legal documents authorizing his presence. ICE detained him without bond and started removal proceedings.
Avila whined for a bond redetermination, got denied by the immigration judge, then ran to the radical district court in Minnesota, which granted his habeas petition and ordered his release or a bond hearing within seven days.
Typical leftist judicial activism, treating illegal aliens better than American citizens.
The district judge claimed § 1225(b)(2)(A) only applies to people “seeking admission” at the border, not those who’ve been squatting here for years.
The 8th Circuit called that nonsense, pointing out the statute’s plain text deems any alien present in the U.S. without admission an “applicant for admission.”
“Seeking admission” and “applicant for admission” are synonymous, the court ruled. Congress didn’t create a special carve-out for illegals who successfully evaded detection long enough to set up shop in Minneapolis.
Judge Erickson dissented, whining that this interpretation is “novel” and that illegal aliens who’ve been here a while deserve bond hearings.
This ruling is huge. It green-lights ICE to detain millions of illegal aliens already inside the country without having to waste time and money on endless bond hearings.
NEW: The Trump administration is celebrating its second straight appeals court win on ICE’s mass detention policy.
But its impact — like the 5th Circuit’s — may be limited if district judges rule for detainees on due process grounds.
w/ @joshgerstein https://t.co/RIT81FSuOw— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) March 25, 2026
Read the ruling below:
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