ACLU of Colorado challenges Trump policy denying bond to immigrant detainees

A new suit filed in the U.S. District Court of Colorado challenges a Trump administration policy that denies bond hearings to immigrants who entered the country without authorization.

The class action suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado calls the policy "a far-reaching departure from longstanding immigration law," and seeks to represent the entire class of individuals subject to the new bond policy in Colorado.  

The ACLU says the detention of immigrants at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Aurora without eligibility for bond raises serious constitutional concerns, adding "the Constitution doesn't allow the government to lock people up without due process."

"The law says that they're entitled to a bond, an opportunity to persuade a judge that they should be let out while their immigration case proceeds. And the Trump administration is ignoring that law," said ACLU of Colorado Legal Director Tim Macdonald.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Denver said it would not comment on the litigation. But the Department of Homeland Security said when it revised the bond policy that all noncitizens not formally admitted to the U.S. face detention under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Macdonald said, "Having secured billions of dollars to build more ICE detention in Colorado and across the country, this administration now wants to fill up its immigration detention centers. This unlawful new policy is a cruel twist on the adage 'if you build it, they will come.'"

The named plaintiff in the suit is currently detained in Aurora, Nestor Esai Mendoza Gutierrez, who, according to the suit, pled guilty more than 20 years ago to a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence. The ACLU said that Mendoza has lived in the U.S. for more than 26 years, is a small business owner in Colorado and the father of two U.S. born children. According to the complaint, after a member of his family was the victim of sexual assault, the Aurora Police Department certified Mendoza for a U-Visa, provided to victims of specific crimes who help law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of crime. Mendoza was detained by ICE on May 25, 2025.

The complaint can be read here