U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is asserting that it can hold immigrants in detention for as long as it wants — and the U.S. Supreme Court will now decide whether that claim survives legal scrutiny, according to a report by The Marshall Project.

The case places one of the most consequential questions in American immigration enforcement before the justices: does the government need to justify continued detention of a noncitizen, or can detention stretch on without meaningful time limits?

What is at stake in the dispute?

ICE's position, as described by The Marshall Project, is that its detention authority carries no fixed ceiling. The agency maintains that it may keep immigrants in custody for however long it deems necessary.

Immigrant advocates and civil liberties groups have challenged that reading, arguing that prolonged detention without a prompt hearing before a judge violates due process. The Supreme Court's eventual ruling will determine which interpretation controls nationwide.

Who does this affect?

The outcome reaches any noncitizen in ICE custody — people arrested in immigration enforcement actions, those transferred into the system from criminal custody, and longtime residents contesting removal.

Depending on how the justices rule, detained immigrants could gain enforceable guarantees of timely judicial review, or ICE could see its open-ended detention authority confirmed.

What happens next?

The Marshall Project reports that the Supreme Court has agreed to examine ICE's detention claim. A decision will follow after the justices hear arguments and issue their opinion, which will bind lower courts across the country.

Readers following U.S. immigration detention should monitor the Supreme Court's docket and official filings for the case schedule, argument date, and ruling, as those records — not secondary coverage — control what the law will require of ICE going forward.

This article does not provide legal advice. Anyone affected by immigration detention should consult a licensed immigration attorney or a federally recognized legal aid provider.