A terrifying case just vanished

The Supreme Court dismissed a case asking whether immigrants could be held indefinitely without bond hearings. Immigration lawyers breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Two men detained for old crimes

The case involved two lawful permanent residents arrested during Trump's first term for crimes they'd already served time for years earlier.

The law requires detention

Federal law says the government must detain noncitizens who committed certain crimes or are suspected of terrorism. It doesn't allow them to challenge detention during deportation proceedings.

A lower court sided with immigrants

A federal appeals court ruled that due process bars the government from detaining people for unreasonably long periods without a bond hearing.

“due process bars the Executive from detaining such individuals for an unreasonably prolonged period …without a bond hearing.”

One man spent 21 months detained

Keisy Guerrero Mariano spent 21 months in immigration detention without a hearing. That was more than double the time he served in prison for his actual crime.

Both cases became moot

Carol Williams Black left the US voluntarily and says he won't return. Guerrero Mariano received a pardon from New York's governor, wiping away his conviction.

The pardon was strategic

Gov. Kathy Hochul pardoned Guerrero Mariano days before his Supreme Court brief was due. The pardon document specifically grants him relief from removal.

Trump's DOJ agreed to dismiss

The Justice Department joined the request to dismiss Guerrero Mariano's case, likely recognizing that a lawful permanent resident with no conviction can't be detained.

The Court's immigration record is harsh

The Supreme Court has allowed Trump to deport immigrants to war zones, effectively nullified the Convention Against Torture, and blessed racial profiling of suspected immigrants.

The legal question was murky

Past Supreme Court decisions say indefinite detention raises constitutional problems, but also that brief detention during removal is allowed. The Court never defined how long is too long.

Why everyone feared this case

In the worst case, Trump could have gained power to lock people up for years without meaningful challenge. Even a win for immigrants would have been vague about detention limits.

The problem isn't solved

The dismissal only delays a reckoning. Trump will keep detaining people for long periods, and the question of indefinite detention remains unresolved until another case reaches the Court.