On December 2, 2025, our firm secured a hard-fought and exceptional bond victory for a Guatemalan national who had been detained for months following the sweeping consequences of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision in Matter of Yajure-Hurtado. Under that decision, the BIA held that individuals who entered the United States without admission or inspection are classified as “applicants for admission” under INA § 235(b)(2)(A), and thus subject to mandatory detention — effectively stripping immigration judges of jurisdiction to grant bond in nearly all such cases.
Thanks to the recent ruling in Maldonado Bautista v. Garland, that paradigm has shifted. In November 2025, a federal district court granted a nationwide class certification: the “Bond Eligible Class.” The court held (via partial summary judgment) that individuals who entered without inspection but were not apprehended at the border are not properly detained under § 235(b)(2)(A), but rather under § 236 — meaning they remain eligible for custody redetermination, including bond hearings.
Because the class certification applies nationwide, all individuals meeting the class definition — namely, noncitizens without lawful status, who entered without inspection, were not initially apprehended, and are not subject to other statutory mandatory-detention grounds — are entitled to bond hearings unless a separate detention ground applies.
In our client’s case, although many immigration courts across the country continue to deny bond on jurisdictional grounds, we leveraged the reasoning of Maldonado Bautista and argued successfully that the immigration court retained authority to hold a bond hearing. The Immigration Judge in Michigan agreed — overturning the repercussions of Yajure-Hurtado — and granted bond to our client.
This result is not only a rare victory under the current administration, but also a powerful validation of the new nationwide standard: thousands of noncitizens long denied their right to a hearing now have a path to bond. We are overjoyed that our client will soon reunite with his wife and children, who have endured immense hardship during his prolonged detention.
Special shoutout to our very own, Navjot “Nav” Khinda, who represented our client zealously throughout this endeavor!
For any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at michael@wildeslaw.com, and please note that these cases and policies are part of an ongoing development that are subject to litigation.
