The Rules on Bond Changed Again. Let Me Catch You Up.

Arzoo Connor • March 19, 2026

I saw it too. Here is what it means for your family.

My phone started going before I had coffee. Clients sending me screenshots, family members asking what changed, people panicking over something they read online.

So let me just talk through it.

The first thing you need to know is that there is no single answer right now to whether someone can get a bond. I know that is not what you want to hear. But the answer genuinely depends on one thing more than anything else.

How did the person enter the United States?

That question changes everything. Let me walk through the three situations I am seeing.

Came in on a Visa and Overstayed

This is the most straightforward situation right now.

If someone came in legally -- on a visa, through an airport, through an official crossing -- and stayed past when they were supposed to leave, the current legal fight is not about them. Immigration judges still have the authority to hold a bond hearing for people in this situation. That has not changed.

If someone in this situation is being denied a bond hearing, that is worth fighting. But the chaos you are reading about in the news is happening in a different category. This is not it.

Was Stopped at the Border or Used CBP One

This one is hard. And it has been hard for longer than the current administration has been in office.

When someone shows up at the border -- whether they walked up to a port of entry, had a CBP One appointment, or were stopped by agents at the border -- immigration law treats them as an arriving alien. Arriving aliens have not been able to go in front of an immigration judge and ask for a bond for decades. That is not new.

What is new is the backup. Before all of this, ICE could use something called parole to release someone even without a bond hearing. It was not a guarantee but it existed. That option has almost completely dried up. The numbers show it dropped about 98 percent in the past year.

I will be straight with you. This is the hardest group to help right now. There are still legal arguments to make and I make them. But I am not going to tell you it is easy because it is not.

Crossed Without Papers and Was Never Caught at the Border

This is where most of what you are reading about is happening.

Think about the person who crossed years ago, never went through any official process, and has been living here ever since. Until last year, that person -- if they got picked up by ICE -- had the right to go in front of an immigration judge and ask to be released while their case was pending. The judge would look at how long they had been here, their family, their record. That process existed for thirty years.

In July 2025 the government said it was done with that. They started arguing that it did not matter how long someone had been here -- if they crossed without papers, they should be locked up with no bond hearing, period. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) agreed with them in September 2025.

That is when things exploded.

The Two Cases You Keep Seeing in the News

Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi. This is the Fifth Circuit case. On February 6, 2026, the appeals court that covers Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi ruled 2 to 1 that the government is right. If you crossed without papers, you can be held with no bond hearing. That ruling controls what happens right now in those three states.

Maldonado Bautista v. DHS. This is the California case. A federal judge there ruled the opposite -- that people who crossed without papers and were not caught at the border have the right to a bond hearing. She vacated the BIA ruling. She called the government's conduct shameless. She said they crossed the boundaries of constitutional conduct.

Two courts. Two completely opposite answers.

The government ignored the California ruling. Immigration judges were told by the Chief Immigration Judge to keep following the Fifth Circuit and keep denying bond hearings.

Then on March 6, 2026 the Ninth Circuit -- the appeals court above the California judge -- put her orders on pause everywhere except in California itself, while they heard the appeal.

So here is the map right now.

Where Things Actually Stand This Week

Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi: The Fifth Circuit ruling controls. If someone crossed without papers, there is no bond hearing available through immigration court. The main option is filing directly in federal court -- what is called a habeas corpus petition -- challenging whether the detention itself is legal. Some of those are winning. But you need an attorney and you need to move fast.

California: specifically the Central District: The California judge's orders still apply there because the appeals court pause did not cover the court where the case originated. Bond hearings are available for people in that district who qualify under the class.

Everywhere else: It is genuinely unsettled. The California class protection is paused outside California. Different courts in different parts of the country are going different directions. More than 300 federal judges have ruled against the government's position on this. About 14 have ruled in favor. The legal weight is clearly on one side. But whether that translates to your family member getting out depends on which court they are in front of and what arguments their attorney makes.

The Thing That Is Not Making the Headlines

I want to say this clearly because I do not see enough people talking about it.

Courts have been ordering bond hearings and the government has been refusing to hold them.

A judge in Minnesota had to schedule an in-person contempt hearing for the acting director of ICE after the government just did not follow his order. They released the person right before the hearing to avoid it. But that same judge attached a list to his order. At least 96 court orders in 74 separate cases that the government had violated since January 1st of this year.

When families see a headline that says a court ruled immigrants are entitled to bond hearings, they think that means their person is getting out. It does not work that way. There is a gap between what courts say and what the government is actually doing, and right now that gap is bigger than anything I have seen in my career.

Knowing the law is one part of the job. Knowing which courts are actually enforcing their orders, which judges are holding the line, and how to move fast enough to matter before an ICE transfer -- that is the other part. That is what my office is doing right now.

What to Do If Someone You Know Was Just Detained

Call an attorney today. Not this week. Today.

ICE moves people fast. Someone sitting in a facility in a state where bond options exist can be transferred to Texas, Louisiana, or Mississippi within a day or two. Once that happens, the legal options change. A filing made before the transfer can sometimes stop it. After it happens, you are dealing with the Fifth Circuit's rules.

Before you call, pull together what you know: their full legal name, their A number if you have any immigration documents lying around, where they are being held, and when they were picked up. That is enough to start.

And please -- do not make decisions based on what you are reading in community groups or seeing shared on social media. I know people post that stuff because they are trying to help and their hearts are in the right place. But this law is changing faster than any post can keep up with. What was true two weeks ago may not be true today. What is true in New York is not true in Texas.

Come in and let us look at what is actually happening in your specific case.

Consultations are $50. We are tracking this every single week so you do not have to.

Key Takeaways

Whether someone can get a bond right now depends almost entirely on how they entered the country. People who came in legally and overstayed are still bond-eligible. People stopped at the border face the hardest situation with almost no release options. People who crossed without papers and were not caught at the border are in the middle of active litigation with different rules in different states.

In Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, the Fifth Circuit ruled in Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi that bond hearings are not available for people who crossed without papers. Federal habeas corpus petitions filed in district court are the main remaining tool. The Maldonado Bautista class action still protects bond eligibility in the Central District of California. Everywhere else is unsettled as of March 2026.

Even where courts have ordered bond hearings, the government has refused to comply in documented cases. If someone in your family was detained, call an immigration attorney immediately. ICE transfers people fast and the legal options change based on where someone is held.

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Can I Get a Green Card If I Entered the United States Without Inspection?

By Arzoo Connor • October 30, 2026

Whether you can get a green card after entering the United States without inspection depends on several factors — whether you have a qualifying family member, how long you have been here, whether you have any prior removal orders, and your specific immigration history. There is no single yes or no answer. But there are paths that exist for some people in this situation, and there are specific reasons why others cannot use them, and understanding which category you are in is the most important thing you can do right now. This is the question I hear most in my office in Fort Worth. People who have been here for ten, fifteen, twenty years. People who have US citizen children, US citizen spouses. People who built lives here and want to know whether there is a legal path forward. Here is the honest answer. What 'entered without inspection' means and why it matters Entering without inspection means crossing into the United States without going through an official port of entry or without being admitted by an immigration officer. No visa. No stamp. Just crossing. This matters for green card purposes because the standard path to a green card — called adjustment of status — generally requires that you were inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States. If you entered without inspection, you were not admitted. That creates a barrier to adjusting status inside the country that people who entered with a visa and overstayed do not face in the same way. When a path to a green card may exist despite entering without inspection The most common situation where a path exists is through a provision called 245(i). This is a law that allows certain people who entered without inspection — or who have other technical bars to adjustment of status — to still apply for a green card inside the United States, as long as they had a family petition or labor certification filed on their behalf before April 30, 2001, and they pay a penalty fee. If you have a family member who filed for you before that date, this may apply to you. The date cutoff is firm and there is no exception to it. Another situation is parole in place for military families. If you are an immediate family member — spouse, child, or parent — of someone on active duty in the US military or a veteran, you may be eligible for parole in place, which gives you a form of admission that then allows you to apply for adjustment of status. This is a specific and limited exception, but it is a real one. There is also consular processing — leaving the United States and applying for an immigrant visa at a US consulate abroad. This is sometimes an option, but it requires understanding the unlawful presence bars before you go. If you have been in the United States unlawfully for more than 180 days and you leave, you trigger a bar on returning. More than one year unlawfully, and it is a ten-year bar. Whether a waiver of that bar is available depends on your qualifying relatives and the hardship your absence would cause them. When there is no direct path currently available If you entered without inspection, you do not have 245(i) eligibility, you do not have a military family connection, and your only option would require leaving the country and triggering an unlawful presence bar — and you do not have qualifying relatives who could support a hardship waiver — then there may not be a straightforward path to a green card right now. That is a hard answer to hear and I give it plainly because the alternative — spending money on an application that does not succeed, or making decisions about leaving the country without understanding the consequences — is worse. Some people in this situation have other options: cancellation of removal if they end up in immigration court, U visa if they have been a victim of a qualifying crime, VAWA if they have been abused by a US citizen or LPR spouse or parent. Those are separate conversations worth having. Why you need an attorney to assess your specific situation The analysis of whether a path exists depends on facts that are specific to your case. When exactly you entered. Whether you have had any prior immigration court proceedings. Whether anyone has ever filed any petition for you. Whether you have any criminal history. Whether you have qualifying family members and what their status is. I have sat across from people who came in and were certain they had no options and found a path they did not know existed. I have also sat across from people who were certain they qualified for something and had to tell them the specific facts of their situation meant they did not. There is no substitute for having someone look at your actual file. A consultation will tell you honestly where you stand and what, if anything, can be done. Call us. Attorney Arzoo Connor ARC Legal Services | Fort Worth, TX | Hablamos Español 469-200-0158 | arclawoffice.com This post is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Every immigration case is different. Please consult a qualified attorney about your individual situation.