The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to take up and decide a case involving a pivotal aspect of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.
As part of its weekly order list, the high court revealed that it has granted a request from the government to hold oral arguments in Genalo v. Black, presumably for its 2026-2027 term. At least four justices must agree to hear a case before it can be considered by the full court.
The case deals with the administration’s detention of to-be-deported illegal aliens under a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The matter more specifically deals with whether the government can keep aliens in detention indefinitely without a bond hearing based on pending deportation proceedings.
Genalo first came to fruition when Keisy G.M., a green card holder and Dominican national, was arrested in October 2020 after he was convicted for assault. According to SCOTUSblog, G.M. was in custody for 21 months as the administration aimed to deport him, and “was eventually released under an order issued by another court, but his challenge to his detention continued.”
The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals sided with G.M. in 2024. The panel ruled that his detention “had become unreasonably prolonged” and that the “constitutional guarantee of due process precludes a noncitizen’s unreasonably prolonged detention under section 1226(c) [of the INA] without a bond hearing.”
The Trump administration petitioned the Supreme Court to take up the case in January. It asked the justices to address the question of whether “there is a point at which an alien’s detention under” the contested INA provision, “pending a decision on whether he is to be removed, becomes ‘unreasonably prolonged,’ such that due process requires a bond hearing.” It also asked the justices to answer “whether, if so, due process in such a bond hearing requires placing the burden on the government to justify the alien’s continued detention by clear and convincing evidence.”
While agreeing to consider these questions, SCOTUS noted in its Monday order that it will also address a question raised by G.M.’s legal team in their opposition to review. That is, whether G.M.’s case is moot since he was released in 2022.
The Supreme Court’s ultimate verdict on the matter will likely provide clarity to lower courts on how to definitely address the legal issues raised in Genalo.
The case is the latest immigration matter to make its way to the high court in recent years. This current term, the justices are expected to issue several decisions in the coming weeks on the subject.
In Mullin v. Alt Otro Lado, the court will consider the legality of the government’s previously used “metering” policy along the U.S.-Mexico border. In Mullin v. Doe and Trump v. Miot, the justices will weigh the Trump administration’s revocation of Temporary Protected Status for foreign nationals residing the United States under the program.
Arguably the biggest immigration-related case this term, however, is Trump v. Barbara. For the first time, the court will address the constitutionality of so-called “birthplace citizenship.”
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