Legal war over Trump’s immigration detention policy far from over despite key win

Published February 9, 2026 4:36pm ET



The Trump administration won a key victory at a federal appeals court late last week, when its mandatory detention policy for illegal immigrants was upheld, but it still faces skepticism in various other federal courts.

The administration’s mandatory detention policy has faced hundreds of adverse rulings, with illegal immigrants successfully challenging their detention through habeas corpus petitions in federal district courts across the country. Conservative legal analysts have hailed the appeals court’s ruling as a key victory, but several hurdles remain for the administration’s fight to uphold its aggressive immigration policy in federal court.

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