by Ben Whedon
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday issued an opinion finding that illegal aliens are not entitled to a bond hearing under the Constitution, regardless of how long they remain in custody.
The decision is a significant win for President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda, as it defeats one of the more pervasive challenges to keeping illegal aliens in custody pending deportation.
“Petitioners, having never been lawfully admitted to the country, are not entitled to additional process concerning their admission beyond what Congress provided in § 1225(b)(2)(A),” the majority wrote. “Even assuming they were, procedural due process would not entitle them to a bond hearing to assess dangerousness or flight risk, factors that are immaterial to Petitioners’ detention under § 1225(b)(2)(A).”
“Further, the duration of Petitioners’ detention presents no constitutional defect requiring habeas relief to correct it,” they added.
That section reads as follows:
Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), in the case of an alien who is an applicant for admission, if the examining immigration officer determines that an alien seeking admission is not clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to be admitted, the alien shall be detained for a proceeding under section 1229a of this title.
The matter may reach the Supreme Court, but the Friday decision represents a considerable win for the administration.
U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz in the southern district of Texas said on social media that this was a “huge win.”
He noted his office has been “inundated with thousands of legally dubious habeas corpus petitions filed by the open-borders legal/nonprofit industry on behalf of illegal aliens. As part of that scheme, they hand-select certain judges to give the aliens exactly what they want: a get-out-of-jail-free card.”
“This appellate decision provides much-needed relief—for now. America-last zealots will still try to find devious ways to flout the law. But my Office and I will remain vigilant in restoring American sovereignty. Why? Because ‘a nation ceases to be a nation if it can’t protect its borders.’ (Judge Ho, concurring),” he added.
– – –
Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
