In a sharply worded opinion issued 15 October, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida gave Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ten days to provide Venezuelan national Alvaro Duran Linarez with an individualized bond hearing or release him under supervision. Duran, an asylum applicant with no criminal record, has been detained for more than eleven months despite multiple previous hearings. Judge Sheri Polster Chappell ruled that prolonged detention without a meaningful bond review violates the Fifth Amendment. Citing Supreme Court precedent in Zadvydas v. Davis, the court placed the burden on the government to justify continued custody and required any hearing to consider evidence submitted by the detainee. The decision adds to a growing line of district-court orders imposing due-process limits on immigration detention, particularly in the Eleventh Circuit. Mobility advisers should flag the ruling for foreign employees who fear prolonged ICE detention after status lapses; it demonstrates judicial receptiveness to habeas petitions challenging indefinite custody. For employers, the case is a reminder to audit the immigration status of contractors and dependants regularly, as detention can upend project timelines. Legal teams representing detainees may use the ruling to press ICE for faster bond adjudications in other prolonged-detention cases. ICE has not indicated whether it will appeal. If it complies, the bond hearing must occur by 25 October 2026; failure to act triggers compulsory release with reporting conditions.
