The Trump administration has moved quickly to keep an important immigration question before the Supreme Court. After the Court agreed in June to hear Genalo v. Black, that case became moot when one detainee left the country and another was pardoned by New York's governor. On September 11, the administration told the justices the case should be dismissed, but it also signaled plans to find a new vehicle.
That vehicle arrived on September 21, when the administration filed a petition in Genalo v. D.C. The case involves a Dominican-born man detained under Section 1226(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which mandates detention for certain noncitizens with criminal records. A district court ruled he had a constitutional right to a bond hearing, and he was later released. The administration is asking the Supreme Court to review that ruling directly, bypassing the appeals court, and to decide whether prolonged detention without a bond hearing violates due process.
The Court previously addressed Section 1226(c) in Jennings v. Rodriguez, but left open the due process question. The new petition asks the justices to answer it during the 2026-27 term. In a separate filing the same day, the administration also asked the Court to consider whether district courts have authority over detention challenges that overlap with removal grounds, a question raised by the detention of Georgetown scholar Badar Khan Suri. D.C.'s response to the main petition is due by October 21.