Supreme Court rules in favor of DHS mandatory detention policy

The Supreme Court ruled today in Nielson v. Preap that those foreign nationals subject to mandatory detention for committing crimes in the U.S. may be detained regardless of when they last left criminal detention.  Preap and a 2nd Petitioner had sued DHS because they were arrested and detained by U.S. ICE years after they had been released from criminal custody.  They argued that the statute, INA section 236(c), reads “when released” and requires ICE to make their arrest immediately after leaving criminal custody, or not subject them to detention at all.   Judge Alito wrote for the 5 member conservative majority.

Justice Alito with opinion in Nielsen v. Preap

Judge Breyer wrote a dissenting opinion finding that the majority interpretation of “when released” would significantly expand the Secretary’s authority to deny bail hearings.

“Under the Government’s view, the aliens subject to detention without a bail hearing may have been released from criminal custody years earlier, and may have established families and put down roots in a community. These aliens may then be detained for months, sometimes years, without the possibility of release”.

Justice Stephen Breyer

• Posted in: Department of Homelands Security
• Tagged: DHS policy