⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Fifth Circuit revisits the detention of three men who entered the United States without inspection and later built families in Texas. Ignacio Sosnava Rodriguez arrived in 2004; Alejandro Villegas Angel and Miguel Angel Gomez Alvarado arrived in 2011 and 2012. All three have U.S.-citizen children and no criminal history; immigration agents detained each after a traffic stop in late 2025 or early 2026. While removal proceedings were pending, the government held them under Section 1225, which it reads to require detention without an ordinary bond hearing. They filed habeas petitions, asking federal judges to test their confinement, and judges in Texas ordered their release after finding that detention without individual review violated due process. The government appealed; a three-judge panel affirmed in July, but the full Fifth Circuit vacated that opinion and is rehearing the appeals together. The question is their detention while removal proceedings continue, not whether they may ultimately stay in the country. Drew Ensign of the Justice Department will argue that Congress can require this detention without a bond hearing. Rebecca Cassler of the American Immigration Council will argue that the Fifth Amendment requires individualized review for these longtime residents.

Sosnava Rodriguez v. Ortega (No. 26-50183) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, argued September 24, 2026.