{"id":204,"date":"2026-06-17T13:41:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T13:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204"},"modified":"2026-06-17T13:41:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T13:41:57","slug":"supreme-court-may-decide-important-case-on-immigration-detention-regarding-attorneys-fees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court may decide important case on immigration detention regarding attorneys\u2019 fees"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Trump administration has made detention a key part of its hardline approach to migrants. Through aggressive enforcement tactics and changes to longstanding policies, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is detaining more people than ever before. Immigration lawyers have been pushing back on an equally unprecedented scale, challenging the legality of detention by filing habeas corpus lawsuits with eye-catching frequency. And now, a case that the Supreme Court has been asked to add to its calendar, Montoya Palacios v. Liggins<\/em>, may upend attorneys\u2019 willingness to pursue habeas cases on behalf of such persons.<\/p>\n

Read more Haitian nationals ask for DIG in TPS Case<\/a><\/p>\n

ICE, which operates a network of approximately 200 immigration detention facilities, is using an infusion of funding to detain tens of thousands of migrants daily. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed on July 4, 2025, gives ICE almost $30 billion to hire enforcement officers and support staff, plus another $45 billion to pay for immigration detention facilities, through the end of September 2029. Relying on this funding, the agency has increased the number of people it detains. In January 2025, President Joe Biden\u2019s last month in office, ICE held approximately 40,000, on average, each day. ICE now regularly detains more than 60,000 people per day, a drop from almost 72,000 individuals who were detained, on average, in January.<\/p>\n

As ICE has detained more people, advocates for migrants have turned to federal courts to obtain their clients\u2019 release. Attorneys have filed more than 52,000 petitions for writs of habeas corpus, which allows people who are detained to challenge the legal basis for their confinement, in federal district courts around the country.<\/p>\n

In the midst of this, the Supreme Court is being asked to decide whether attorneys who challenge the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s decision to detain a migrant can recover fees from the government. The Equal Access to Justice Act makes attorneys\u2019 fees available to parties that successfully bring \u201cany civil action (other than cases sounding in tort)\u201d against the federal government unless the government\u2019s position was \u201csubstantially justified.\u201d Two courts of appeals \u2013 the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the and 5th Circuits \u2013 have concluded that habeas challenges to immigration detention aren\u2019t civil cases covered by EAJA. In their view, habeas is instead a \u201chybrid\u201d criminal proceeding and civil action. Three circuits disagree. Relying on a long history of courts describing habeas as a \u201ccivil\u201d action, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Circuits consider habeas a type of civil lawsuit that falls within EAJA\u2019s broad attorneys\u2019 fees language (although the 2nd Circuit determined the government\u2019s position to be \u201csubstantially justified\u201d in that case).<\/p>\n

The justices are currently considering whether to hear arguments in a case challenging the 4th Circuit\u2019s position. In April, Kevin Isaac Montoya Palacios asked the court to intervene on his behalf. A citizen of El Salvador, Montoya Palacios received withholding from removal, a form of humanitarian protection from deportation, in September 2023. He then lived in the U.S. and states that he met regularly with ICE officials for more than two years, until December 2025, when ICE agents arrested him during a routine appointment. With the assistance of counsel, Montoya Palacios quickly filed a habeas petition, which U.S. District Judge George Russell granted. Despite having won, Russell denied Montoya Palacios\u2019s request for attorneys\u2019 fees under EAJA, citing the 4th Circuit\u2019s position that habeas claims related to immigration detention are not a \u201ccivil action.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last month, the U.S. Solicitor General, representing the federal government, also the justices to get involved. Like Montoya Palacios, the solicitor general acknowledges that the federal courts of appeals are divided on whether EAJA permits attorneys to recover fees in cases challenging the legality of a migrants\u2019 confinement. Both parties also agree that there is little chance that the lower courts will settle on a single interpretation of EAJA\u2019s attorneys\u2019 fees provision that is applicable nationwide.<\/p>\n

Read more Haitian citizens ask justices to throw out dispute over whether Trump administration properly ended protected status for them<\/a><\/p>\n

The justices are scheduled to consider the parties\u2019 request during their June 18th private conference, though it\u2019s possible they won\u2019t act on it then. If they grant the request, the court will likely hear arguments in the term beginning in October.<\/p>\n

The existing disagreement among the circuits creates a split-screen effect. In some parts of the country, attorneys can request fees when they take on habeas immigration cases, whereas attorneys in other parts of the country can\u2019t. Since federal district courts have jurisdiction over habeas claims based on the physical location in which a person is detained, attorneys whose clients are held in the 4th and 5th Circuits can\u2019t hope to recover fees no matter how flagrant the government\u2019s conduct.<\/p>\n

The inability to recover fees from the federal government when ICE illegally detains someone in the those circuits matters because almost half of detained migrants are detained there. Housing more than 500 people, Virginia\u2019s Farmville Detention Center is the largest of five facilities in the 4th Circuit, although it\u2019s small in comparison to facilities in the 5th Circuit. Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas \u2013 the three states within the 5th Circuit \u2013 are home to several of the largest prisons in ICE\u2019s network. Of the 40 facilities that the agency uses in these three states, 11 held at least 1,000 people as of early April, the last date for which ICE has released data. Two housed more than 2,000 people: the Adams County Correctional Center in Mississippi and the East Montana Camp near El Paso, Texas. Combined, ICE held almost 47 percent of its total detained population \u2013 28,180 of 60,311 \u2013 in 5th Circuit facilities in April.<\/p>\n

If the court agrees to add Montoya Palacios<\/em> to its calendar, its decision is likely to have a substantial impact on ICE\u2019s detention operations. Without the ability to recover attorneys\u2019 fees, it will be much more difficult for migrants to find attorneys willing to bring lawsuits challenging the legal basis of their detention. And if lawyers do not challenge ICE in court, then judges will be unable to oversee the massive incarceration operation that the agency has built up.<\/p>\n

Read more How Supreme Court precedents die before they are overruled<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Trump administration has made detention a key part of its hardline approach to migrants. Through aggressive enforcement tactics and changes to longstanding policies, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is detaining more people than ever before. Immigration lawyers have been pushing back on an equally unprecedented scale, challenging the legality of detention by filing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary"],"yoast_head":"\nSupreme Court may decide important case on immigration detention regarding attorneys\u2019 fees - American Service Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Supreme Court may decide important case on immigration detention regarding attorneys\u2019 fees - American Service Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Trump administration has made detention a key part of its hardline approach to migrants. Through aggressive enforcement tactics and changes to longstanding policies, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is detaining more people than ever before. Immigration lawyers have been pushing back on an equally unprecedented scale, challenging the legality of detention by filing […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Service Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-17T13:41:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=204#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=204\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb\"},\"headline\":\"Supreme Court may decide important case on immigration detention regarding attorneys\u2019 fees\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-17T13:41:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=204\"},\"wordCount\":1053,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=204#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/3e2283f29245e536add52afa51cc3ef7.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Commentary\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=204#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=204\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=204\",\"name\":\"Supreme Court may decide important case on immigration detention regarding attorneys\u2019 fees - American Service Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=204#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=204#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/3e2283f29245e536add52afa51cc3ef7.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-17T13:41:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=204#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=204\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=204#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/3e2283f29245e536add52afa51cc3ef7.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/3e2283f29245e536add52afa51cc3ef7.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":627},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=204#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Supreme Court may decide important case on immigration detention regarding attorneys\u2019 fees\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Service Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Supreme Court may decide important case on immigration detention regarding attorneys\u2019 fees - American Service Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Supreme Court may decide important case on immigration detention regarding attorneys\u2019 fees - American Service Review","og_description":"The Trump administration has made detention a key part of its hardline approach to migrants. Through aggressive enforcement tactics and changes to longstanding policies, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is detaining more people than ever before. Immigration lawyers have been pushing back on an equally unprecedented scale, challenging the legality of detention by filing […]","og_url":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204","og_site_name":"American Service Review","article_published_time":"2026-06-17T13:41:57+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb"},"headline":"Supreme Court may decide important case on immigration detention regarding attorneys\u2019 fees","datePublished":"2026-06-17T13:41:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204"},"wordCount":1053,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3e2283f29245e536add52afa51cc3ef7.jpg","articleSection":["Commentary"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204","url":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204","name":"Supreme Court may decide important case on immigration detention regarding attorneys\u2019 fees - American Service Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3e2283f29245e536add52afa51cc3ef7.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-17T13:41:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3e2283f29245e536add52afa51cc3ef7.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3e2283f29245e536add52afa51cc3ef7.jpg","width":1200,"height":627},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=204#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Supreme Court may decide important case on immigration detention regarding attorneys\u2019 fees"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/","name":"American Service Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/americanservicereview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}