The Trump administration is moving to block unauthorized migrants from being released on bond, according to a new policy memo from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The directive would make migrants who entered the U.S. illegally and are currently in ICE detention ineligible for bond hearings, requiring them to remain in custody for the duration of their deportation proceedings.
What the new policy means
The internal memo, first obtained by The Washington Post, was reportedly issued by acting ICE Director Todd Lyons on July 8. It instructs ICE officers to detain migrants throughout the length of their immigration court cases, rather than allowing them to post bond and remain in the U.S. while awaiting a hearing.
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The new policy would shift authority away from immigration judges, who previously had the discretion to grant bond to detained migrants not considered a flight risk or public safety threat.
While immigration law requires that migrants who enter the country illegally be detained throughout deportation court proceedings, the U.S. has previously made exceptions due to limited detention space. For decades, the government has allowed migrants to bond out of detention because of the shortage of beds in ICE holding facilities.
Policy aligns with ICE detention expansion plans
The Trump administration is aiming to expand capacity in ICE facilities to detain more individuals, rather than release them.
With nearly $45 billion approved by Congress as part of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending legislation — referred to as the “Big Beautiful Bill” — ICE plans to increase its detention capacity to 100,000 beds. That’s more than double the approximately 40,000 available during the Biden administration.
As of now, roughly 57,800 migrants are in ICE custody as of June 29, according to Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. The administration plans to further ramp up deportations.
Legal challenges expected
The ICE memo was reportedly issued last week. Since then, the American Immigration Lawyers Association said that migrants have already begun being denied bond hearings in more than a dozen immigration courts. The Department of Justice oversees the immigration court system.
Immigration advocacy groups believe the new directive will face legal challenges.
“This is their way of putting in place nationwide a method of detaining even more people,” Greg Chen, senior director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told the Post. “It’s requiring the detention of far more people without any real review of their individual circumstances.”
