U.S. Supreme Court Issues a New Assault on the Civil Liberties of Immigrant Communities

WASHINGTON – In a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Nielsen v. Preap, that the Secretary of Homeland Security has the authority to arrest and detain a noncitizen released from prior criminal custody, even if the noncitizen had been released years ago.

The Court’s majority interpretation forbids bail hearings for immigrants detained by immigration enforcement years or decades after their release from prison. Thousands of people will be forced into mandatory detention without a bond hearing.

Losmin Jiménez, Project Director and Senior Attorney, Advancement Project’s National Office reacted, “Such a ruling is beyond devastating to immigrant communities. It is yet another assault on civil rights and civil liberties by the U.S. Supreme Court. It is an egregious expansion of an already out-of-control immigration detention system that criminalizes people of color and fuels the prison industrial complex.”

Last August, Advancement Project’s National Office signed-on to the NYU School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic amicus brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Nielsen v. Preap, Number 16-1363. The brief, filed on August 13, 2018, featured stories on the impact of application of mandatory no-bond detention to individuals who have returned to their communities following their release from criminal custody.

Contact: Kimaya Dixit, kdixit@advancementproject.org, 240.506.5445