The Trump administration wants the justices to overturn a rule requiring bond hearings for noncitizens held during long deportation proceedings.
The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court this term to take up Genalo v. D.C., a case over whether noncitizens with criminal records are entitled to bond hearings during prolonged deportation proceedings.
The dispute centers on a Second Circuit precedent that requires a bond hearing when mandatory immigration detention becomes “unreasonably prolonged.” At those hearings, the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that a detainee is a danger to the community or a flight risk. Seeking review through a petition for certiorari before judgment, the administration is asking the justices to take the case before the federal appeals court issues its own ruling.
Detainee’s criminal history
Court records identify the man at the center of the petition as D.C., a 62-year-old Dominican citizen who entered the country illegally and has four criminal convictions. In 1997, he was charged with drug offenses including selling and possessing a controlled substance. After he didn’t appear for trial, a jury convicted him and he was sentenced in absentia to three to nine years in prison, though he did not serve that term until 2024. In 2007, he was charged with possessing a forged instrument and missed another court date.
D.C. was charged in 2016 in connection with a domestic dispute, facing counts that included second-degree strangulation, third-degree assault and acting in a manner to injure a child under 17. He pleaded guilty to criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation, resolved the forged-instrument charge with a guilty plea, and later pleaded guilty to criminal contempt. Police arrested D.C. on an outstanding 1998 warrant in April 2024. After he completed his state sentence in September 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement immediately detained him while removal proceedings continued. A district court subsequently ordered a bond hearing under Second Circuit precedent but denied his request for immediate release.
Earlier mooted cases
The administration turned to D.C.’s case after two earlier lawsuits involving the same legal question became moot. One detainee, Carol Williams Black, was deported after roughly seven months in custody. Black had a 2000 conviction for sexually abusing a child. The Supreme Court had agreed in June to review a second case involving G.M., a Dominican lawful permanent resident who served 19 months in prison for a 2015 assault conviction and was later detained by ICE for 21 months without a bond hearing. The high court scheduled arguments for Oct. 13, but New York Gov. Kathy Hochul granted G.M. an unconditional pardon in late August. Solicitor General John Sauer agreed the issue was moot, and the court dismissed the case Sept. 11.
Chad Mizelle, litigation chair at the America First Policy Institute, told Fox News Digital that mandatory detention was intended to keep noncitizens with serious crimes behind bars during deportation. Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network, said the outcome will affect cases across the country, noting that defendants often skip court dates. Florida State University law professor Michael Morley told Fox News Digital that affirming the Second Circuit standard would make it harder for the government to detain people with criminal records or links to terrorism.
