Appeals court backs Trump on MN alien detention

The case, decided by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, originated out of the Minnesota federal district. It was one of many such habeas corpus cases seeking the release of one or more illegal aliens detained by ICE.

The 2-1 decision by the Eighth Circuit can be read here. The 8th Circuit ruling will apply throughout its territory, which includes Minnesota, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas.

The case originated in August 2025 and is captioned Joaquin Herrera Avila v. Bondi. The appeals court reversed the district court judge’s decision to order the release of the illegal alien from ICE custody. The majority decided that the statutory language “shall be detained” really does mean that.

Since the beginning of 2026, more than 1,100 such cases have been filed in Minnesota alone.

Politico reports,

The ruling carries particularly acute implications for Minnesota, where federal district judges are bound to follow it. Hundreds of people detained during the recent ICE crackdown in the Twin Cities have filed petitions for release from custody by challenging the administration’s interpretation of the law, and nearly every district judge in the state had sided with the petitioners.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (TX-LA-MS) reached the same conclusion earlier this year. Politico notes that some judges in Texas are still releasing detainees under a different, untested due process argument.

Look for Minnesota-based judges to try the same stunt.

With the 5th and 8th circuits agreeing on the matter, mandatory alien detention is now the law of the land in an unbroken swath of the mid-continent from the Canadian border down to the Gulf of America.

[Note: an earlier version of this post appeared on Power Line.]