Grant’s Law Mandates Detention for Arrested Noncitizens: 90-Day Removal Deadline Introduced

Grant’s Law fundamentally changes how the U.S. government handles noncitizens who find themselves in legal trouble. Under Section 2 of the bill, any noncitizen determined to be unlawfully present must be held in mandatory detention if they are arrested for specific offenses—even before a judge or jury decides if they are actually guilty. This applies to a wide range of charges, including crimes of moral turpitude and drug offenses. Unlike current practices where a person might be released on bond while awaiting trial, this bill requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to keep them in custody throughout the entire process.

No Conviction, No Release

One of the most significant shifts in this legislation is what happens when a person is found not guilty. Usually, if the charges are dropped or you’re acquitted at trial, you go home. However, Grant’s Law specifies that if a noncitizen is not convicted of the offense that triggered their arrest, the Secretary of Homeland Security must continue to detain them until their immigration removal proceedings are finished. For a local construction worker or a line cook with a family, an arrest that leads to no charges could still result in months of detention away from their job and home while the bureaucracy clears their paperwork.

The 90-Day Countdown

To manage the potential backlog of detainees, Section 3 of the bill imposes a strict 90-day deadline. The Secretary of Homeland Security is required to complete removal proceedings within 90 days of an individual being taken into custody. While this is intended to speed up a notoriously slow system, it creates a high-pressure environment for legal aid organizations and public defenders. If you are a noncitizen trying to gather evidence for an asylum claim or find a lawyer, you are now on a ticking clock, and the system must move at a breakneck pace to meet the federal mandate.

Shifting the Keys to the Cell

The bill also moves the goalposts on who makes the final call. It transfers custody decision authority from the Attorney General to the Secretary of Homeland Security. This means the same agency responsible for policing and enforcement—Homeland Security—now has more direct control over who stays behind bars without the same level of judicial oversight previously baked into the system. For everyday people, this means the 'checks and balances' are thinner; if the government arrests you and decides you fit the criteria, there are fewer outside parties who can step in to review that detention before the 90-day removal window closes.