The U.S. Supreme Court announced Thursday it will review the Trump administration's policy of mandatory detention for immigrants, setting up one of the biggest tests yet of the president's immigration agenda at the high court. The justices granted review in Rhoney v. Barbosa da Cunha, appealed from the New York-based 2nd Circuit, in an orders list released Thursday morning after the court's long conference. Oral arguments are expected between January and April 2027, with a decision by the end of June 2027.
Administration lawyers wrote that the split among appeals courts is "disrupting the orderly administration of immigration law," producing "an unworkable patchwork of inconsistent immigration enforcement, where aliens present without admission are subject to mandatory detention in some circuits but are entitled to bond hearings and often released in others." They say courts have been inundated with thousands of petitions from immigrants challenging the government's legal interpretation. The ACLU, representing the plaintiffs, says "millions of noncitizens could be affected" by the new interpretation.
The dispute stems from a July 2025 Department of Homeland Security guidance: immigrants in the U.S. illegally are subject to mandatory detention without a bond hearing for the duration of their deportation proceedings, which can take months or even years. That broke with a nearly three-decade-old interpretation under which immigrants already living in the U.S. could be released on bond while pursuing their cases in immigration court. Most appeals courts to consider the issue — the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, and 11th Circuits — found detention without a bond hearing violates federal law. The 5th and 8th Circuits disagreed, holding that immigrants accused of illegally entering and remaining must be detained while their cases are pending.
The case centers on Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha, a Brazilian national who authorities say entered the U.S. illegally two decades ago and applied for asylum in 2016. After his September 2025 arrest, an immigration judge determined his detention was mandatory. His attorneys say he has never been charged with or convicted of a crime. If the court sides with the government, millions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally could be locked up for the duration of deportation proceedings with no bond hearing.
The Washington Examiner calls this one of the biggest tests yet for Trump's immigration agenda at the high court. Since returning to the White House, the administration has been overwhelmingly successful in immigration cases before the Supreme Court — including ending temporary protected status for immigrants from various countries — with its lone loss coming in the birthright citizenship battle. Whether the 6-3 conservative majority extends that winning streak will be decided by June 2027.