Practice Advisory: The Laken Riley Act’s Mandatory Detention Provisions

From the introduction:

“On January 29, 2025, President Trump signed the Laken Riley Act (LRA), Pub. L. 119-1, 139 Stat. 3, into law. The LRA undermines due process and will disproportionately target immigrant communities of color for detention and deportation. The law expands no-bond detention for certain noncitizens in immigration proceedings, and it also purports to give states the ability to sue the federal government over immigration decisions they dislike, opening the door to politically motivated and discriminatory actions.

The goal of this practice advisory is to support practitioners in defending noncitizens impacted by the LRA. This resource focuses on the detention implications of the LRA. It summarizes the law’s detention provisions, discusses groups of noncitizens whose detention should not be impacted by the LRA, provides potential arguments for a narrow interpretation of the provisions’ scope, describes procedural options for contesting a client’s mandatory detention under the LRA, and identifies considerations for criminal defense attorneys.”