The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals handed the Trump administration a significant victory this week, temporarily blocking lower court rulings that had ordered the release of three illegal aliens while their deportation cases moved forward.

The decision means the administration can continue enforcing its policy of mandatory detention without bond for many people who entered the country illegally and are awaiting removal proceedings. The ruling applies across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, home to many of the nation’s largest immigration detention centers and where the federal government has increasingly transferred aliens from around the country as deportation arrests ramp up.

Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate celebrated the ruling on social media, saying it makes clear that “illegal aliens do not have a constitutional right to roam free in the United States during their removal proceedings.”

The policy, first implemented in 2025, has sparked a flood of lawsuits across the country. Some federal judges have ruled that aliens are entitled to bond hearings, while others have sided with the administration, creating a patchwork of conflicting decisions.

With some courts backing the administration and other courts ruling the opposite, the legal tug-of-war is looking increasingly destined for the U.S. Supreme Court.