ICE is detaining indiscriminately. And releasing almost no one.

Immigrants in detention and their loved ones and legal representatives are facing desperation and sheer exhaustion. Through a series of legal, policy and bureaucratic machinations, the Trump administration is ensuring there is almost no way out of immigration detention other than death or deportation. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has long held some people in detention without giving them a chance to ask for release on bond – a practice called “mandatory detention.” Earlier this year, Congress passed the Laken Riley Act, which expanded mandatory detention. As of October 2025, ICE has made major policy changes to expand it even further, and the immigration appeals court at the Department of Justice has signed off. The result: ICE is arresting, detaining, and refusing to release far more people than before, including many vulnerable people who were rarely detained in the past. Read below how these policy changes are harming people and who is impacted. 

How is ICE ensuring that people are locked up without due process?

• Indiscriminate arrests and abandonment of charging discretion: The Supreme Court has long held that ICE can choose whether or not to arrest someone and begin a deportation case. Recent ICE policy guidance, however, now tells officers they must start a deportation case for anyone they arrest – whether at the border or inside the United States. ICE is also no longer following policies that limited enforcement against people with humanitarian and medical concerns, such as pregnant women and primary caregivers.
• Declaring long-time U.S. residents ineligible for bond: In July, ICE issued a policy memo declaring that anyone who originally entered the United States without permission – no matter how long they’ve lived here – is not allowed to even ask for release from detention on bond. This goes against existing law, which says that people arrested and detained inside the United States by ICE should be able to ask for bond. On September 5th, the immigration appeals court in the Department of Justice agreed with ICE’s position in a case called Matter of Yajure Hurtado. But dozens of federal district courts have disagreed with ICE’s misguided interpretation of the law in response to individual legal challenges brought through habeas petitions.
• Refusing to exercise discretion for those who remain eligible for release: Even with all these changes, some people in ICE detention – especially those who came to the U.S. with valid visas – can still ask for bond. In other cases, ICE still has the power to release someone through a process called parole. However, ICE has rolled out new policies that basically follow a “detain until deport” approach. This approach takes away local officers’ ability to decide whether someone should be released and requires approval from ICE headquarters. This makes officers less likely to decide to release, because they know their decisions will be reviewed and possibly blocked by headquarters. 
• Routinely appealing when an Immigration Judge determines a person should be released, keeping the person trapped in detention: In the rare cases where an Immigration Judge decides someone can be released on bond, ICE is regularly appealing the bond decision. When ICE appeals, a federal rule kicks in that automatically blocks the person’s release on bond while the appeal is pending. In other words, even if a person can pay their bond and be released, they will be stuck in detention during the appeal. By the time the appeal is finished, the person has often been deported or their case has ended in another way.

Can anyone get released from immigration detention?

Very few people can. For most, the only real option for release is to ask a federal court judge to step in through a habeas corpus petition. But this option is inaccessible for most. 

Filing a habeas corpus petition from immigration detention is extremely difficult. It involves complex procedural and legal steps, and about 80% of people in detention do not have lawyers to help them. Many immigration lawyers are not trained in habeas work because it has not been a common part of their practice before. When someone does manage to file a habeas petition, ICE often engages in a cat and mouse game by moving the person to a different location, exhausting and demoralizing detained individuals already separated from their loved ones. 

Who is getting stuck in detention?

ICE’s indiscriminate and sweeping use of detention has even stunned loyal Trump supporters, leaving no one safe from losing their freedom. 

This year, ICE arrested and detained:

• U.S. citizens 
• Minors
• Green card holders and others with legal status (like Temporary Protected Status)
• DACA recipients 
• Journalists
• Veterans  and their immigrant family members (including U.S. citizen veterans) 
• People whose cases have been terminated by a judge
• People with disabilities — for whom ICE then denies basic accommodations 
• Medically vulnerable individuals, including those with brain tumors and cancer
• Pregnant people and nursing mothers
• Grandmothers while gardening
• People with U.S. citizen children, triggering a child mental health crisis in the U.S.
• Long-time residents
• High school students going to volleyball practice, walking the dog, reporting to their immigration court hearings, and one just weeks from graduation.

Prolonged detention has devastating consequences.

We can’t lose sight of how serious it is when the government takes away someone’s liberty. Detention separates people from their children, loved ones, and livelihoods. It destabilizes communities and leaves families struggling to pay their bills. In some cases, detention is a death sentence: suicide attempts are common and at least 20 people have died in detention since Trump took office. 

The Trump administration knows that detaining people in harsh conditions makes them more likely to give up their rights and agree to deportation, even if they have a strong legal case. One former ICE official has already said he expects “legitimate lawsuits” due to horrific conditions. Research shows that the stress and hopelessness of detention often causes people to abandon their fight to stay in the United States. 

Take action

NILC urges Members of Congress to work closely with legal service providers and mutual aid organizations in their states and districts and to engage actively in supporting constituents facing unjust and prolonged detention. It is critical to bear witness, amplify the stories of those harmed, and keep pushing for people to be released. We cannot let ICE carry out these abuses.

** Our gratitude to Emma Morley at Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy and Atenas Burrola Estrada at the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights for contributions to this document.