DOJ signals retreat on ICE detentions, steering cases to bond hearings

The Justice Department is increasingly telling judges it cannot defend ICE detention decisions and is instead agreeing to bond hearings or releases for detainees, reflecting strain in the system and mounting judicial pushback against mass detentions. In dozens of cases, federal judges have rejected the government’s detention rationale (with more than 400 judges criticizing the approach and thousands of rulings indicating detentions were unlawful), prompting a shift toward bond hearings and releases as the administration grapples with resource constraints.