In the US, there is an effective limit of 6 months on the detention/incarceration of people whose nationality cannot be determined (or who are stateless). They are protected by two Supreme Court rulings: Zadvydas v. Davis (2001)[1] and Clark v. Martinez (2005)[2].
Although, right now, the conservative majority Supreme Court is in the process of slowing rolling back these protections, taking us to a darker period. With Jennings v. Rodriguez[3], asylum seekers can effectively be imprisoned indefinitely without even an opportunity for a bond hearing (not actual release, but even the opportunity to seek one) while their asylum (or other immigration) case is pending.
Conservatives Supreme Court justices have in the past, during oral hearings, spoken from the bench, about their contempt for Zadvydas v. Davis. It’s uncertain how long these basic human rights protections will survive.
To give the conservative perspective: Part of the problem is that the Liberal abuse of asylum provisions has created human trafficking chains of human misery to both America and Europe, with rape/torture/death being the norm in these human movements. Beyond that, the mass migration leads to tremendous political and economic issues in the target countries, disproportionately affecting the poorest. The classic liberal position has been to resist these flows for that reason, while conservatives have been happy to overlook the human exploitation factors in order reap the benefits of cheap labor for the elite.
Although, right now, the conservative majority Supreme Court is in the process of slowing rolling back these protections, taking us to a darker period. With Jennings v. Rodriguez[3], asylum seekers can effectively be imprisoned indefinitely without even an opportunity for a bond hearing (not actual release, but even the opportunity to seek one) while their asylum (or other immigration) case is pending.
Conservatives Supreme Court justices have in the past, during oral hearings, spoken from the bench, about their contempt for Zadvydas v. Davis. It’s uncertain how long these basic human rights protections will survive.
[1] Zadvydas v. Davis: https://www.oyez.org/cases/2000/99-7791 ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zadvydas_v._Davis
[2] Clark v. Martinez: https://www.oyez.org/cases/2004/03-878 ; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_v._Martinez
[3] Jennings v. Rodriguez: https://www.oyez.org/cases/2017/15-1204 ; https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/jennings-v-rodri...