I recently reported on the District Court decision in Gordon v. Holder restricting mandatory detention to cases in which the person facing deportation is detained within a few days of release from state prison. This is an important decision because it is common for ICE to detain people years after they have served their time, and then essentially incarcerate them for months while they await a hearing in the Immigration Court. The District Court ruled that this was impermissible. These people are entitled to an individual bond determination. There is no presumption that a person is dangerous or a flight risk, when that person has been living as a productive member of society for a period of time.
This case was appealed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals and affirmed! The court held that they must be picked up by ICE “within a reasonable time after their detention”. “Within a reasonable time” is not defined, but it clearly does not include years later. If ICE does not detain the person within a reasonable time, then they are no longer mandatory detainees, and are entitled to a bond hearing.
Source: NationalLawJournal