Immigration agency flexes authority to sharply expand detention without bond hearing
July 15, 2025
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is moving to detain far more people than before, tapping a legal authority to jail anyone who entered the country illegally. Todd Lyons, ICE’s acting director, wrote employees on July 8 that people in deportation proceedings would be ineligible for a bond hearing before an immigration judge. Instead, they cannot be released unless the Homeland Security Department makes an exception. The directive signals wider use of a 1996 law to detain people who had previously been allowed to remain free while their cases wind through immigration court.
