New Bill Creates Mandatory Detention Presumption for Non-Citizens, Bars Use of Family Ties for Release

The “Flight Risk Reduction Act” is a short bill that makes a significant change to federal pretrial detention rules (specifically 18 U.S.C. 3142). If you’re facing a federal charge, the law currently determines whether you should be released pending trial based on factors like flight risk and community safety. This bill carves out a new, much stricter rule for anyone who is not a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident (LPR).

The New Rules of the Detention Hearing

Currently, a detention hearing—where a judge decides if you stay in jail until trial—is generally triggered by serious charges like violent crimes or drug offenses. Section 2 of this new Act adds a second, mandatory trigger: a detention hearing must be held if the defendant "is not a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States." That means if you’re in the country on a student visa, a work visa, or without documentation, you are automatically flagged for a hearing, regardless of how minor the federal charge might be.

Presumed Guilty of Flight Risk

This is where the bill really changes the game. For most defendants, the prosecution has to prove that the person is a flight risk or a danger to the community. This bill flips that standard for non-citizens and non-LPRs. It creates a new legal presumption that “no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the appearance of the person as required and the safety of the community.” In plain English: the court must assume you are a flight risk and a danger, and you start the hearing already losing.

To overcome this, you would have to provide “clear and convincing evidence” that you are neither a flight risk nor a danger—a very high legal bar. This is a massive shift in the burden of proof, essentially requiring non-citizens to prove their innocence regarding pretrial risk, even before a trial has begun. It treats a specific group of people differently based solely on their immigration status, not the severity of the crime they are accused of committing.

Family and Work Ties Are Now Meaningless

Perhaps the most impactful detail for everyday life comes in the fine print. When a judge considers pretrial release, they normally look at ties to the community—things like owning a home, having a steady job, and having family who depend on you. These are the strongest arguments a defense lawyer can make to show you won’t skip town.

However, the proposed bill explicitly states that the defendant's ties to “family or employment in the United States” cannot be used as evidence to overcome the presumption of detention. Imagine being a non-LPR with a valid work visa, married to a U.S. citizen, with two kids in local schools, and a decade of employment at the same company. Under this bill, all those community ties—the very things that show stability—are legally inadmissible for the purpose of arguing against detention. The bill effectively mandates that the judge ignore the defendant’s life circumstances, making pretrial detention significantly more likely for this group.