Nielsen v. Preap

The case asked whether certain noncitizens with qualifying criminal convictions avoid mandatory immigration detention if federal officials do not arrest them immediately after release from criminal custody. On March 19, 2019, the Supreme Court said that a delay does not remove them from that mandatory-detention rule.

The Supreme Court decided the case on March 19, 2019, but the prompt does not provide the vote count or opinion lineup.

The decision affects when immigration officials may require detention without a separate bond process for some noncitizens with listed criminal convictions. For example, a person released from jail who is picked up later by federal immigration officers can still be placed in mandatory detention.

The Supreme Court has finished this case. The practical next step is for lower courts and immigration officials to apply the Court's reading of the detention statute in similar cases.

The dispute was over timing. The question was whether mandatory immigration detention still applies if federal officers do not arrest someone immediately after release from criminal custody.

Certain noncitizens with qualifying criminal convictions are most affected. Even after a delay, they may still face mandatory detention when immigration officials later take them into custody.

The Court's work on this docket is over. Lower courts and immigration authorities now use this interpretation when similar detention disputes arise.