Washington, March 8 (NationPress) A series of federal court decisions across the United States this week has mandated the release or bond hearings for at least 15 Indian nationals currently in immigration detention. Judges concluded that authorities had breached constitutional due process rights by detaining migrants without a proper hearing.

The rulings, issued by courts in states such as California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Kentucky, and New Jersey, primarily concern Indian asylum seekers who had been previously released by immigration authorities but were subsequently re-detained under a new interpretation of immigration law that is being increasingly dismissed by judges nationwide.

Of the cases evaluated by the courts, approximately 12 Indian migrants were ordered to be released immediately, while three others were given bond hearings to assess the justification for their continued detention.

In various rulings, judges indicated that immigration authorities improperly held migrants under provisions intended for individuals “seeking admission” at the border, despite the fact that the detainees had been residing in the United States for months or even years.

Federal courts asserted that these migrants should instead be classified under a different section of immigration law that permits a bond hearing before an immigration judge to evaluate whether they represent a flight risk or a danger to the community.

Among the Indian nationals whose detentions were challenged were Sukhdev Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Resham Singh, Sandeep Singh, Sagar Sagar, Himanshu Himanshu, Vicky Vicky, Sanjay Kumar, Jasvir Singh, Fateh Singh, Sudhanshu Mulyan, Deepak Malik, Harkirat Singh, Jaswinder Singh, and Rishi Pal.

Several courts mandated the immediate release of the migrants, highlighting that authorities had not shown any criminal background or threat to public safety.

In some instances, judges prohibited immigration authorities from re-detaining individuals unless the government could first demonstrate at a hearing that they posed a danger to the community or a flight risk.

In Pennsylvania, a federal court ordered the release of Sanjay Kumar, who had been detained despite residing in the United States since 2023 and applying for asylum while adhering to immigration check-ins.

Other courts instructed the government to conduct prompt bond hearings instead of maintaining migrants in mandatory detention. For example, in Colorado, a federal judge ordered authorities to hold a bond hearing within seven days for Harkirat Singh, allowing an immigration judge to assess the necessity of his continued detention.

Judges underscored that noncitizens in the United States are entitled to constitutional protections under the Fifth Amendment.

“The Due Process Clause applies to all ‘persons’ within the United States, including noncitizens,” one ruling stated while scrutinizing the legality of immigration detention.

The decisions reflect a rising judicial resistance against a policy shift by immigration authorities that aimed to broaden the scope of mandatory detention for migrants who entered the country without inspection but had been living in the United States.

Courts have increasingly concluded that such migrants are not “seeking admission” to the United States and therefore cannot be automatically subjected to mandatory detention without the chance to seek bond.

Under U.S. law, immigration detainees can challenge their detention through habeas corpus petitions in federal court if they believe they are being held in violation of the Constitution or federal statutes.

Although immigration proceedings against the migrants are ongoing, the court orders imply that many of them will remain free while their cases progress through the immigration system.