Democrats and liberals have told us for decades that “the immigration system is broken” and that the laws are outdated. The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals destroyed that narrative and “treated immigration law as law, not a suggestion.” Ammon Blair explained the situation in his article published at The Blaze.
In
Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi, a divided panel did something radical by modern
standards: It enforced immigration law as Congress wrote it. The result ranks
as one of the most consequential immigration rulings in a generation – and a
direct rebuke to the legal fiction that has shielded millions of illegal aliens
from mandatory detention for decades.
What the court actually said
The
case turned on a simple question with enormous consequences: Do illegal aliens
who entered the United States unlawfully – often years ago, without inspection
or lawful admission – get discretionary bond hearings while in removal
proceedings?
The
Fifth Circuit answered no.
Writing
for the majority, Judge Edith H. Jones, joined by Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan,
held that any alien present in the United States who has not been lawfully admitted
is, by statute, an “applicant for admission.” Congress supplied that definition
in 1996.
Under
the law, applicants for admission who cannot show they are “clearly and beyond
a doubt entitled to be admitted” shall be detained pending removal proceedings.
“Shall”
means mandatory. It leaves no room for discretionary bond hearings. It applies
regardless of how long the alien has remained unlawfully in the country.
Physical
presence does not confer the legal status or constitutional entitlements that
accompany lawful admission, much less citizenship….
No
other federal appellate court has squarely held that mandatory detention
applies not only to recent border crossers but also to long-term illegal aliens
living in the interior who entered without inspection years – even decades –
ago.
Long-delayed enforcement
Nothing
in the Fifth Circuit’s decision turns on novel statutory interpretation.
Congress enacted this framework in 1996 to eliminate incentives for evading
inspection and remaining unlawfully in the United States.
What
changed was not the law but the willingness to enforce it.
After
the Board of Immigration Appeals acknowledged the plain meaning of the disputed
section in Matter of Yajure Hurtado, DHS implemented a policy treating
illegal entrants as Congress defined them: applicants for admission subject to
mandatory detention.
The
response was immediate and predictable. District courts across the country
rushed to block the policy, issuing a wave of rulings restoring bond
eligibility.
The
Fifth Circuit is the first appellate court to say what should have been obvious
all along: Courts do not get to rewrite immigration statutes because
enforcement is politically uncomfortable.
Asylum is not a loophole
One
of the most persistent myths in immigration discourse claims that filing for
asylum legalizes illegal entry. It does not.
Congress
made illegal entry a federal misdemeanor. The statute contains no asylum
exception. Illegal entry remains a crime even for those who later request
asylum.
Asylum
also does not create a “right to remain.” It is discretionary relief from
removal.
Federal
law allows an alien to apply for asylum after illegal entry. That provision
does not cure inadmissibility, erase criminal violations, or entitle the
applicant to release from custody….
Aliens
who enter without valid documents remain inadmissible and subject to detention
or removal.
Mandatory
detention applies to many asylum seekers. Under the statute:
·
Illegal
entrants go into expedited removal unless they establish a credible fear.
·
When
an alien claims credible fear, the alien remains detained pending final
adjudication.
·
Release
runs through limited DHS parole authority, not judicial bond hearings.
The
Supreme Court confirmed this framework in Jennings v. Rodriguez (2018),
holding that the statute mandates detention and does not allow courts to invent
bond hearings where Congress declined to authorize them.
Law on the books vs. law in practice
The
detention statute does not suffer from ambiguity. The conflict lies elsewhere.
Congress
criminalized unlawful entry without exception. Congress also enacted the asylum
provision through the Refugee Act of 1980, permitting any alien “physically
present” in the United States or arriving at the border to apply for asylum
regardless of manner of entry. That provision does not exempt such
individuals from prosecution, detention, or removal. It does not repeal
the detention mandate….
Over
time, however, executive agencies – and sometimes courts – expanded a limited
non-penalization principle into a broader immunity regime. Officials treated
asylum eligibility as a basis to avoid detention, delay removal, and suspend
enforcement mandates Congress never repealed….
Why this ruling matters
By
enforcing the law as written, the Fifth Circuit restored a foundational
principle of sovereignty: Illegal entry does not generate superior legal
rights.
The
dissent warns that enforcing the statute could produce large-scale detention.
That warning is not a legal argument….
This
ruling binds only Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi – for now. Other circuits
have signaled resistance. A split is coming. Supreme Court review seems likely.
When
that moment arrives, the court will face a question it has avoided for years:
Does immigration law mean what it says – or only what politics permits?
The Fifth Circuit has answered. For the first time in decades, a federal court treated immigration law as law, not a suggestion.