Supreme Court Dismisses Prolonged Immigrant Detention Case

Kelsey Dallas and Nora Collins for SCOTUSBlog gives us the lowdown on the Supreme Court's dismissal of an immigration case that had been scheduled for argument in October. "U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer [had] notified the court that the case is now moot and the challenger agreed that it should be removed from the oral argument docket."

"In Genalo v. Black, the justices had been set to consider at what point, if any, certain noncitizens have a right to a bond hearing during a lengthy detention and what the government must show to justify continued detention if such a hearing is indeed required. . . . [T]he case involved two men detained under Section 1226(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which requires the detention of noncitizens, including green card holders, who have committed certain crimes and who are awaiting removal proceedings. . . . Sauer urged the justices to review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit’s decision that the men’s detention had stretched on for so long that they were entitled to a bond hearing under the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause."

UPDATE (Sept. 15): Elaine Briseño  for Law360 (September 14, 2026, 4:11 PM EDT) reports that the case "was rendered moot after the immigrant at the center of the case received a pardon" by New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Fox News was not a fan of the pardon.