(The Center Square) – A second federal appeals court has sided with the Trump administration’s effort to detain illegal immigrants without bond.
In a split decision released Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that illegal immigrants arrested anywhere in the United States can be considered “seeking admission.” That classification allows federal authorities to hold them without a bond hearing while deportation proceedings continue.
The ruling overturned a lower court’s ruling and followed a similar decision last month from the Fifth Circuit, which also upheld the Department of Homeland Security’s authority to deny bond hearings to immigrants arrested across the country.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi applauded the decision, calling it a “massive court victory” on social media.
The case centered on Joaquin Herrera Avila, a Mexican national arrested in Minnesota in August 2025 for lacking legal documents, despite having lived in the United States for more than 20 years.
A federal district judge had previously ruled that he should be eligible for a bond hearing, finding he was not “seeking admission” under the law.
But the Eighth Circuit reversed that ruling, with Judge Bobby E. Shepherd writing for the majority.
“Being ‘admitted’ does not merely mean being present in the United States,” he said in the 11-page ruling. “Under immigration law, it signifies having made a lawful entry into the country.”
Shepherd added that an “applicant for admission” is also an illegal immigrant “seeking admission,” meaning the government may detain such individuals without bond.
Judge Leonard Steven Grasz joined Shepherd in the majority, while Judge Ralph R. Erickson dissented.
Erickson criticized the ruling as “a novel interpretation” of federal law. He noted that, aside from a single DUI conviction, Avila had lived “a law-abiding life” in the United States.
The Trump administration hailed the ruling as a big win for its immigration agenda.
“MASSIVE COURT VICTORY against activist judges and for President Trump’s law and order agenda,” Bondi said. “The law is very clear, but Democrats and activist judges haven’t wanted to enforce it. This administration WILL. Imagine how many illegal alien crimes could have been averted if the left had simply followed the law?”
With federal judges split on the issue, this newest ruling could set up a potential Supreme Court showdown.
