The US Supreme Court considers the issue of indefinite immigration detention

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The US Supreme Court announced on Thursday that it will consider whether President Donald Trump's administration can deny immigrants threatened with deportation the opportunity to request bail, in the latest challenge to his administration's hard-line campaign against immigrants.

This policy, which was implemented after Trump returned to power last year, allows authorities to keep some immigrants in detention for the duration of deportation proceedings, a period that can extend for years, even if they have lived in the United States for decades.

Previous administrations, including Trump's first term, generally allowed these detainees to ask an immigration judge to release them while their cases were pending, if they did not pose a risk.

The Trump administration believes that the 1996 immigration law imposes the mandatory detention of people who entered the country illegally, regardless of how long they have spent in the country since their arrival.

In contrast, immigrant rights advocates argue that this provision targets people who are stopped at or near the border, and that long-term residents who are detained inside the country should still be eligible to apply for bail.

Most lower courts that heard the issue rejected the administration's interpretation of the law, leading to thousands of lawsuits by people detained during Trump's mass deportation campaign.

The case before the Supreme Court concerns Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha, a Brazilian citizen who had been living in the United States for nearly two decades when immigration agents detained him following his arrest for a traffic violation in Massachusetts last year.

A federal judge had ordered his release, and an appeals court upheld that decision.

The administration says a flood of lawsuits challenging mandatory detention has hampered immigration enforcement.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents those objecting to this policy, describes the administration’s explanation as a radical departure from decades-long practices.

Trump's term has seen an expansion in immigration detention, with the number across the country reaching 66,000 by July, according to data from the Transactional Records Access Center, which provides nonpartisan data on federal agencies.

The justices are expected to hear arguments early next year and issue a ruling by the end of June.