A federal appeals court in California ruled Wednesday that more immigrants in detention should get bond hearings and those held more than a year should get additional hearings.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals expanded the number of immigrants in nine Western states who should get bond hearings after six months in detention.
The panel also said immigrants held more than a year should get bond hearings every six months where the federal government must show why they should remain locked up.
"It substantially decreases the likelihood people will get lost in the system for years on end because there will be some examination of why the person is still incarcerated," said Ahilan Arulanantham, deputy legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, which represented plaintiffs in the case.