Illegal immigrants will now be detained throughout their entire deportation proceedings under a sweeping policy shift revealed in a July 8 internal memo obtained by The Washington Post.
According to the report, Todd M. Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), directed agents to detain all individuals entering the U.S. illegally “for the duration of their removal proceedings.” This marks a dramatic departure from previous protocols, where migrants could seek release via bond hearings before immigration judges.
The new policy, backed by both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), effectively ends discretionary releases from ICE custody for those awaiting a court ruling.
“The government has revisited its legal position on detention and release authorities and determined that those who enter illegally may not be released from ICE custody,” Lyons wrote in the memo.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will also begin following the same policy, The Post reports.
A Major Departure from Previous Practice
Previously, ICE primarily detained individuals apprehended near the southern border, while others—especially those who had been in the U.S. for some time—were often released with court dates. Now, the new guidance will apply retroactively to illegal immigrants already inside the U.S., not just recent border crossers.
The shift has already led to a surge in bond denials across multiple states, including New York, Virginia, Oregon, North Carolina, Ohio, and Georgia, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).
“This is their way of putting in place, nationwide, a method of detaining even more people,” said Greg Chen, AILA’s senior director of government relations.
Detention vs. Release: A Heated Debate
Supporters of the policy argue that detention ensures the integrity of the deportation process.
“Detention is absolutely the best way to approach this,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies. “It’s expensive, yes, but it dramatically improves the likelihood that individuals with final removal orders will actually be deported.”
ICE’s own 2024 annual report from the Biden administration acknowledged that it typically detains migrants only “when necessary,” noting that most of the 7.6 million noncitizens with pending cases have been released into the country.
Critics warn that the new detention mandate could overwhelm the system. Tom Jawetz, a former DHS official under President Biden, called the measure “a radical departure that could explode the detention population.”
Massive Funding Boost for Enforcement
This dramatic policy shift is backed by significant new resources. Under the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, ICE will receive:
$45 billion to expand detention capacity, allowing the agency to hold up to 100,000 illegal immigrants per day
$14 billion for transportation, removals, and deportations
Funds to hire 10,000 new agents, further boosting enforcement capabilities
The legislation has fueled speculation about a broader Trump administration effort to reverse Biden-era immigration policies and dramatically expand federal immigration enforcement ahead of the 2026 elections.
As the country braces for the practical and political fallout of the new policy, the central question remains: Will mass detention deter illegal immigration—or inflame an already polarized national debate?