A federal judge in Seattle says certain immigrants can't be held in detention without bond hearings.
Tuesday's ruling stems from a complaint filed by immigrant advocates on behalf of three men who were held for months at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma without a chance of a bond hearing, in which a judge determines whether immigrants present a flight risk or a danger to the community.
The complaint says the Department of Homeland Security held the men under their "mandatory detainment" rule for immigrants who had served a sentence for certain crimes.
But attorneys for the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project say that the men in the complaint were arrested years after their sentences, and had gone back to their families and jobs.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman declined to comment.
