11th Circuit Court of Appeals Strikes Down Trump's Mandatory Detention Policy — Second Appeals Court to Rule Against No-Bond Blanket Detention

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit — based in Atlanta — struck down the Trump administration's mandatory detention policy on May 6, 2026, ruling in a divided panel decision that Congress never granted the executive branch 'unfettered authority to detain, without the possibility of bond, every unadmitted alien present in the country.' The ruling is the second major circuit court to reject the policy, following the Second Circuit's ruling on April 29, 2026. Two other circuits — the 5th and 8th — have upheld the policy, creating a circuit split that makes Supreme Court review highly likely. The mandatory detention policy was an expansive reinterpretation of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), mandating that anyone who entered the country illegally be held without bond regardless of how long they had lived in the U.S., their family ties, or other individualized factors. Separately, federal immigration judges have already ruled ICE held more than 4,000 immigrants illegally. The 11th Circuit's ruling requires ICE to provide bond hearings to detainees in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama — a region that includes Stewart Detention Center (multiple FY2026 deaths) and the controversial 'Alligator Alcatraz' facility near the Everglades. Civil liberties advocates hailed the ruling while the Trump administration indicated it would seek en banc review or appeal to the Supreme Court.