Immigrants Unlawfully Detained Without Bond

In July 2025, the federal government announced a sweeping new policy that rendered any noncitizen who allegedly entered the country without permission a target for immediate arrest and detention without the possibility of being released on bond—no matter how long they have been in the country. This policy upended decades of agency practice and interpretation of the immigration laws, which guarantee a bond hearing for those same individuals. Because of the policy, millions of detained immigrants are at risk of being torn from their loved ones and losing their opportunity to fight their immigration cases at home. The government has put them in jail and thrown away the key. In August 2025, the ACLU of Michigan filed a habeas corpus petition on behalf of Juan Lopez Campos, a noncitizen with no criminal history who had been residing in the country for twenty-six years before he was picked up by immigration agents after a routine traffic stop. He was detained at the Monroe County Jail and denied a bond hearing to which he was entitled under the immigration laws. The petition proceeded speedily, and within three weeks, the federal court granted the petition and ordered that Mr. Lopez Campos be released or, at least, be given a bond hearing. The government released Mr. Lopez Campos from custody shortly after the petition was granted. He continues to fight his immigration case from home—surrounded by his family. In late September 2025, we filed another habeas petition, this time on behalf of eight noncitizens who were arrested and detained under the same policy. The lead plaintiff, Mr. Contreras-Cervantes is a father of three U.S. citizen children and has a rare, life-threatening form of leukemia which was not being adequately treated while in detention. His detention separated him from his medical team and jeopardized his health. In October 2025, the court again ordered either release or a speedy bond hearing, and Mr. Contreras-Cervantes and our other clients were released days later. In October the ACLU, along with our partners at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, launched a habeas pro bono project so that the many other immigrants who being illegally locked up—just like Mr. Lopez Campos and Mr. Contreras-Cervantes—can get the legal help they need to file similar cases and go home to their families. (Lopez Campos v. Noem; ACLU Attorneys Ramis Wadood, Miriam Aukerman, Phil Mayor, Nara Gonczigsuren Orantes, and Bonsitu Kitaba-Gaviglio; Cooperating Attorney Shahad Atiya; Contreras-Cervantes v. Raycraft; ACLU Attorneys Ramis Wadood, Miriam Aukerman, Phil Mayor, Nara Gonczigsuren Orantes, Marty Berger, and Bonsitu Kitaba-Gaviglio). If you are a lawyer and want to help us fight for justice for immigrants, sign up to volunteer here.