Deportation and Removal

This article addresses a detention posture in which a noncitizen is processed as an applicant for admission, is inspected and released into the United States on parole under Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) § 212(d)(5)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)(A), and is later arrested by ICE in the interior—often many months after release—then placed (or returned) into detention while removal proceedings remain pending.

When an immigration case reaches a final order of removal, the legal theory of detention changes—often abruptly. The government is no longer detaining someone “pending a decision on whether the alien is to be removed.”

A recurring detention fact pattern has become increasingly common: a noncitizen presents for inspection, is admitted only for limited processing purposes or is deemed an applicant for admission, and is released into the United States on immigration parole under INA § 212(d)(5)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)(A). Months later—often after compliance with reporting requirements—ICE arrests the person in the interior and returns them to custody.

On February 18, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted a motion to enforce judgment in Lazaro Maldonado Bautista et al. v. Ernesto Santacruz Jr. et al., a nationwide immigration detention class action challenging the Executive Branch’s post–July 2025 repositioning of detention authority for certain interior apprehensions.