The bottom line. The Seventh Circuit held that Section 1225(b)(2)(A) does not authorize mandatory detention of aliens arrested in the U.S. interior, preserving eligibility for bond hearings under Section 1226. Decided July 30, 2026.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled July 30, 2026, in Cirrus Rojas v. Olson, No. 25-3127, that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cannot use the border-detention provision, 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A), to hold aliens arrested in the interior without a bond hearing.
The ruling addresses a circuit split over whether the statutory "deeming" provision in removal proceedings extends to detention. The Second, Sixth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits have rejected DHS's interpretation; the Fifth and Eighth Circuits have adopted it.
"We hold that Cirrus Rojas is not 'seeking admission'—and thus not covered by Section 1225(b)(2)(A)."
The Statutory Dispute
DHS arrested Jaciel Cirrus Rojas, a noncitizen who entered without inspection in 2018, and initially detained him under Section 1226, which requires a bond hearing before an immigration judge. After an immigration judge ordered release on bond, DHS reversed course, invoking Section 1225(b)(2)(A), which mandates detention without bond for certain "applicants for admission."
The government argued that a 1996 statutory change "deeming" all aliens not properly admitted to be "applicants for admission" also places them under Section 1225's mandatory detention. The Seventh Circuit rejected that reading, holding the legal fiction applies only to removal procedures, not detention provisions.
Why "Seeking Admission" Matters
The court reasoned that Section 1225(b)(2)(A) applies only to aliens who are both "applicants for admission" and "seeking admission." Cirrus Rojas, who sought asylum and withholding of removal, was not seeking admission, as those forms of relief do not constitute admission under the statute or Supreme Court precedent. His unlawful entry rendered him inadmissible, so he could not successfully seek admission.
The court noted that before 2025, no administration had suggested the deeming fiction extended beyond removal procedures to detention.
What This Means Right Now
Noncitizens arrested in the interior and placed in removal proceedings generally remain eligible for bond hearings under Section 1226, unless they fall under a separate mandatory-detention category.
Aliens in Seventh Circuit states (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin) detained under Section 1225 may challenge their detention via habeas petitions under 28 U.S.C. § 2241.
Immigration judges in these jurisdictions may continue to set bond where an alien is neither a danger nor a flight risk.