ACLU of Nebraska Sues Over ICE Policy Blocking Bond Hearing

LINCOLN, Neb. – A man held in a Nebraska immigrant detention center is turning to the court system in the hope of securing a chance to regain his freedom and work through immigration proceedings while in the community instead of behind barbed wire.

Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nebraska filed a lawsuit against federal and state officials on behalf of Carlos Chang, who has been detained in the detention facility in McCook, Nebraska, since December of 2025. He is one of many immigrants nationally who have been denied a bond hearing based on the recent adoption of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy that asserts nearly all detained immigrants are subject to mandatory detention and ineligible for release on bond.

Despite a federal judge declaring the mandatory detention practice unlawful in a class action lawsuit brought by the national ACLU, the Southern California ACLU affiliate, and other immigrants’ rights advocates, Chang and other immigrants continue to face indefinite detention with no opportunity for a bond hearing while their immigration cases proceed. Earlier this month, the country’s top immigration court official instructed immigration judges to disregard the federal court’s orders.

Chang's lawsuit argues that denial of his bond hearing violates the Immigration and Nationality Act and the clear language of the judge’s order in the class action lawsuit. Today’s filing requests a court order directing immigration officials to either release Chang immediately or schedule a bond hearing within seven days.

Chang is a Guatemalan citizen who has been in the United States for over 20 years. His first and only contact with immigration authorities happened late last year in Des Moines, Iowa.

Speaking through a Spanish interpreter, Chang said that he believed his ongoing detention was unjust. He said he hoped, God willing, that he would soon regain his freedom and that he wishes the same for others in custody.

ACLU of Nebraska Staff Attorney Grant Friedman said:

“Courts have clearly and repeatedly stated that immigration officials cannot wholesale deny people the right to seek release on bond if they are detained within our country. At its most basic level, this is about ensuring the rule of law and protecting a fundamental right. Officials have an obligation to follow court orders, and our client has a right to make his case and to receive an individual custody determination as has been the usual practice for decades.”

Last year, ACLU of Nebraska lawsuits prompted the release of three women who were separated from their families after an ICE workplace raid in Omaha. Advocacy efforts led to the release of a fourth client, a man with two young children at home. In all four cases, ICE had been denying their release despite an immigration court judge approving release on bond. Chang is the first ACLU of Nebraska client to have been denied a bond hearing under ICE’s mandatory detention policy.