In a pair of landmark rulings handed down on October 17, 2025, federal judges in Michigan and Colorado have delivered a significant rebuke to the Trump administration’s immigration detention policies, ordering the release or bond hearings for longtime undocumented residents and signaling a growing judicial consensus that the denial of bail hearings violates federal law.
Jose Contreras-Cervantes, a 33-year-old resident of Michigan who has lived in the United States for about two decades, became the central figure in a case that has brought national attention to the plight of immigrants held without the chance for release. According to The Associated Press, Contreras-Cervantes, who was diagnosed last year with chronic myeloid leukemia—a rare and life-threatening cancer—was arrested during a routine traffic stop in suburban Detroit on August 5, 2025. Following his arrest, he was shuttled between detention centers in Michigan and Ohio, and, alarmingly, did not receive his crucial cancer medication for 22 days. He is now receiving a substitute medication at North Lake Processing Center, a privately run facility in Baldwin, Michigan.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Brandy McMillion in Detroit ruled that Contreras-Cervantes and seven other plaintiffs, all represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, must be released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody or, at minimum, be granted bond hearings in immigration court within the next seven days. The judge also ordered a written update on the status of these bond hearings by October 27, 2025.
"Without first evaluating each petitioner's risk of flight or dangerousness, their detention is a violation of due process rights afforded to them under federal law," Judge McMillion declared in her decision, as reported by the Detroit Free Press.
For Contreras-Cervantes and his family, the ruling could not have come at a more critical time. His wife, Lupita Contreras-Cervantes, a U.S. citizen, expressed relief following the decision. "This ruling provides incredible relief for me and my family," she said in a statement. "The stress created by the threats to Jose's health because of the disruption of his treatment for a rare, life-threatening form of leukemia has been constant." Contreras-Cervantes was told by his doctors that he has only four to six years to live, making uninterrupted access to medication a matter of life and death.
The Detroit case is emblematic of a broader legal battle that has unfolded across the United States since the Trump administration moved to reinterpret longstanding federal law, instructing immigration courts to stop granting bail hearings to undocumented immigrants—even those with no criminal record—who have resided in the country for years. This policy reversal has led to a surge in immigration arrests and swelling detention centers, with many detainees facing indefinite confinement while their cases wind through a backlogged immigration system.
In Colorado, a parallel drama played out as U.S. District Court Judge Regina M. Rodriguez in Denver ordered the release of Nestor Gutierrez, a native of El Salvador and father of two who has lived in the Denver area since 1999. According to The Denver Post, Gutierrez was arrested by ICE in May 2025 and held for five months in Aurora’s detention center. Like Contreras-Cervantes, Gutierrez was denied a bail hearing under the administration’s new policy.
Judge Rodriguez’s ruling not only mandated Gutierrez’s release but also temporarily barred ICE from deporting or transferring him and other similarly situated detainees in Colorado while the lawsuit continues. In her order, Rodriguez wrote, "What is unique to Mr. Gutierrez, and other noncitizens like him, is that he is being unlawfully detained without bond." She further noted, "Even if Mr. Gutierrez is not ultimately successful in his efforts to avoid removal, the record here shows that if he had been provided with a bond hearing, he would have been granted a conditional release because he is unlikely to abscond or be a danger to the community. This would give him and his family time to prepare for their future, pending his possible removal."
Gutierrez’s release was not immediate; ICE initially refused to comply with the court order, but he was eventually freed on the morning of October 19, 2025. Hans Meyer, one of Gutierrez’s attorneys and a representative for the ACLU of Colorado, remarked, "The most important thing is that (the court) agreed with us that ICE’s interpretation of the law is incorrect and that people who entered the country without permission, once they’re here, are at least eligible to seek a bond." Meyer and the ACLU are now seeking to have the lawsuit certified as a class action, potentially expanding its impact to many more detainees.
These rulings are not isolated events. Judge Rodriguez pointed out that 36 courts nationwide have rejected the administration’s reinterpretation of immigration law, out of 39 that have reviewed it. The growing stack of judicial orders undercuts federal efforts to keep longtime undocumented residents in detention without the possibility of bail. Miriam Aukerman, an ACLU attorney involved in the Michigan case, emphasized, "This decision is the latest among dozens of cases where federal judges have ruled that ICE cannot hold people without bond hearings."
Immigration attorneys and advocates argue that the policy of denying bail hearings is designed to pressure detainees into abandoning their legal claims or requesting their own removal, rather than enduring prolonged detention. During recent court proceedings in Aurora, Colorado, several detainees chose to stop fighting their cases and requested removal simply to escape indefinite confinement, according to The Denver Post.
The U.S. Justice Department has defended the administration’s policy, arguing in court filings that such cases should be handled by an immigration appeals board rather than federal courts. It remains unclear whether the department will appeal the recent rulings. Meanwhile, ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have not responded to requests for comment regarding the release of Gutierrez or the broader implications of the court orders.
For families like those of Contreras-Cervantes and Gutierrez, the rulings offer a glimmer of hope amid years of uncertainty and fear. Yet, the legal battle is far from over. The ACLU and other advocacy groups are pressing forward, seeking wider judicial recognition that due process requires individualized assessments of flight risk and danger—not blanket detention policies.
As the legal challenges continue to unfold, the fate of thousands of undocumented immigrants detained across the country hangs in the balance. The recent decisions in Michigan and Colorado, however, have set a powerful precedent: the courts are increasingly unwilling to allow indefinite detention without due process, reaffirming a fundamental tenet of American law even in the fraught arena of immigration enforcement.
