9th Circuit Rejects Trump Administration's Mandatory Detention Expansion, Deepening 4-2 Circuit Split Toward Likely SCOTUS Review

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled 2-1 on July 30 that immigrants must receive bond hearings, rejecting the Trump administration’s expansion of mandatory no-bond detention — with a Trump-appointed judge joining the majority. The ruling deepens a circuit split now standing at 4-2: the Second Circuit (2026-04-28–second-circuit-rules-ice-mandatory-detention-policy-illegal), Eleventh Circuit (2026-05-08–eleventh-circuit-rejects-trump-no-bond-detention-policy-circuit-split), and now the Ninth Circuit have rejected the policy, while the Fifth Circuit’s en banc panel (2026-07-10–5th-circuit-en-banc-reinstates-mandatory-detention) and the Eighth Circuit have upheld it.

A Trump-appointed judge joining the majority against the administration’s own position substantially raises the odds the Supreme Court will grant certiorari to resolve the split — a cert petition is already pending in a related case (2026-06-15–scotus-cert-genalo-v-black-prolonged-immigration-detention-bond). A SCOTUS ruling favoring bond hearings could reshape detention economics broadly, since the administration’s capacity build-out (targeting 92,600 beds, 2026-07-29–ice-issues-emergency-solicitation-5500-beds-four-cities) assumes prolonged custody without individualized hearings.