Trump II Mass Detention Policy Passes Another Key Hurdle
Our legal process is deliberately slow, but for now it’s working out in the administration’s favor
By Andrew R. Arthur on April 16, 2026
Last week, a Trump II policy shift that barred aliens who entered illegally and were arrested in the United States from being released passed another key judicial hurdle when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit refused to reconsider a split three-judge panel opinion allowing that change. Ignore the thousands of district court decisions ordering the release of aliens detained under the new policy — for now.
The “Inspection Protocol”
In 1996, Congress revamped how immigration officers treat aliens who come improperly to this country.
The legal immigration process is straightforward: A foreign national seeking to come here permanently (an “immigrant”) or temporarily (a “nonimmigrant”) applies for a visa, receives that visa at a consulate abroad, arrives at a U.S. port of entry and presents that visa to an inspector, and is admitted.
That legal process imposes multiple requirements on both immigrants and nonimmigrants, not the least of which is establishing to the satisfaction of both the consular officer and the inspector that they do not have criminal records that would bar them from being admitted.
https://cis.org/Arthur/Trump-II-Mass-Detention-Policy-Passes-Another-Key-Hurdle
