Appeals court blocks ICE mass detention policy

A three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled against the federal government's mass detention policy for illegal aliens awaiting deportation, setting up a likely Supreme Court fight.

The 5th Circuit and 8th Circuit Courts of Appeals have already sided with the Trump administration, meaning that the ruling has created a circuit split, which makes the Supreme Court more likely to hear the matter.

The 3-0 ruling on Tuesday saw the judges assert that the Trump administration's policy "would send a seismic shock through our immigration detention system and society, straining our already overcrowded detention infrastructure, incarcerating millions, separating families, and disrupting communities," Politico reported.

Trump has faced a litany of legal setbacks to his mass deportation efforts, with several cases reaching the Supreme Court. Trump has sought to deport as many as 22 million illegal aliens, though he has thus far managed roughly 3 million, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security. That figure includes roughly 2.2 million estimated self-deportations.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.