Supreme Court Declines to Hear Immigration Case on Indefinite Detention

<figure> <img alt="Barbed wire lines a fence outside of the Delaney Hall Detention Facility, where ICE is housing detained immigrants." src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/gettyimages-2289119127.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">On September 16, 2026, the Supreme Court announced it would not hear the case <em>Genalo v. Black</em>, which questioned whether certain immigrants could be held indefinitely in detention without a bond hearing. The case involved two lawful permanent residents arrested during the Trump administration for crimes they had previously served time for.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The case stemmed from a federal law requiring the detention of noncitizens who committed specific crimes or were suspected of terrorism, without allowing them to challenge their detention while deportation proceedings were ongoing. The federal appeals court ruled that due process prohibits prolonged detention without a bond hearing.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">With the Supreme Court's decision not to take up the case, the appeals court ruling stands, allowing detained immigrants to request bond hearings for the time being. However, the Court's non-decision leaves uncertainty regarding the future of similar cases.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The two men involved in the <em>Black</em> case had spent significant time in detention without hearings. Carol Williams Black spent seven months, while Keisy Guerrero Mariano spent 21 months in detention, which was longer than his prison sentence for a previous crime.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Both cases are now moot; Black has been released and left the United States, while Guerrero Mariano received a pardon from New York Governor Kathy Hochul, resolving his immigration case before the Supreme Court could rule.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Justice Department joined a stipulation requesting the dismissal of Guerrero Mariano's case, acknowledging that a lawful permanent resident without a conviction may not be detained. The Court granted this request.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The dismissal of the <em>Black</em> case is viewed positively for Guerrero Mariano, but it does not resolve the broader issue of prolonged detention for other immigrants awaiting their cases.</p>