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# Three Texas fathers won release from ICE. The full Fifth Circuit just reversed it.
- URL: https://www.workersrights.news/fifth-circuit-en-banc-no-bond-hearings-detained-immigrants/
- Published: 2026-10-23T20:11:44.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T20:11:44.000Z
- Description: A 10-7 ruling says the Constitution doesn't guarantee a bond hearing to immigrants who were never admitted.
- Author: WorkersRights.News Team
- Tags: Legal News, Politics

The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Friday that immigrants held under the Trump administration's mandatory-detention policy have no constitutional right to a bond hearing, however long they are locked up.

The 10-7 decision in *Sosnava Rodriguez v. Vergara* binds federal courts in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. A bond hearing is where a judge decides whether a detained person is dangerous or likely to flee, and whether they can go home while their immigration case plays out. Judge Cory T. Wilson, writing for the majority, said people who entered the country without being admitted can be held until their cases end. "The Constitution does not entitle them to a bond hearing," he wrote.

The ruling reverses wins for three Texas men: Ignacio Sosnava Rodriguez, Miguel Angel Gomez Alvarado and Alejandro Villegas Angel. Each had lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years, worked, and had U.S. citizen children, [the Texas Tribune reported](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/02/texas-immigrants-detention-fifth-circuit-court-ruling-bond-hearings/?ref=workersrights.news). State troopers arrested them after routine traffic stops and turned them over to ICE, which held them with no hearing. Federal judges found the detentions violated due process and ordered them released.

In July, a three-judge panel led by Judge Leslie Southwick ruled 2-1 that the government had to give people like them a hearing within 90 days. Wilson dissented then. The full court threw out that ruling and reheard the case. On Friday, Southwick, Judge Stephen Higginson and Judge Dana Douglas each wrote dissents.

## Who this hits

The decision reaches immigrants held in three states, including longtime residents who work, pay rent and raise families here. Other federal appeals courts have rejected the no-bond policy, including the First Circuit in August, [the ACLU said](https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/federal-appeals-court-upholds-rights-of-detained-noncitizens-to-bond-hearings?ref=workersrights.news). That split makes Supreme Court review likely.

Still unknown: whether the three men will be detained again, and whether their lawyers will ask the Supreme Court to step in.

We condemn a rule that lets the government jail working parents for months without a judge ever asking whether it's necessary. If a relative is detained in Texas, Louisiana or Mississippi, talk to an immigration lawyer now about what this ruling changes in their case.

### Sources

- [Opinion, *Sosnava Rodriguez v. Vergara*, Nos. 26-50183, 26-50219, 26-50221 (5th Cir. en banc, Oct. 23, 2026)](https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/26/26-50183-CV1.pdf?ref=workersrights.news), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- [Trump Migrant Detention Policy Upheld by Full Fifth Circuit](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/full-fifth-circuit-upholds-trumps-migrant-detention-policy?ref=workersrights.news), Bloomberg Law
- [Appeals court says undocumented migrants must get hearing](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/02/texas-immigrants-detention-fifth-circuit-court-ruling-bond-hearings/?ref=workersrights.news), The Texas Tribune
- [Federal Appeals Court Upholds Rights of Detained Noncitizens to Bond Hearings](https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/federal-appeals-court-upholds-rights-of-detained-noncitizens-to-bond-hearings?ref=workersrights.news), ACLU