The Eighth Circuit has ruled that a district court wrongly determined that the due process rights of an Ivory Coast native convicted of robbery were violated after he spent a year in federal custody waiting for a removal decision.

Writing for a unanimous panel, U.S. Circuit Judge David R. Stras said that "due process imposes no time limit on detention pending deportation," a conclusion the appellate judge said was supported by a long line of U.S. Supreme Court cases and mandated by a federal law that requires deportable noncitizens convicted of certain crimes to be detained during removal proceedings.

As long as deportation is still a possibility while Nyynkpao Banyee awaits a decision in his appeal of his removal order, his ongoing detention is not unconstitutional, Judge Stras wrote in a Sept. 17 decision.

Rejecting the district court's conclusion that Banyee's detention looked a bit too much like criminal incarceration "with 'no imminent end in sight,'" Judge Stras said length doesn't determine the legality of Banyee's detention. Rather, what matters is that his detention has a termination point — he will either be deported or released when his appeal concludes, the decision said.

"The why, in other words, is more important than how long," Judge Stras wrote, a distinction he said dates back more than half a century.

For example, Judge Stras said the Supreme Court has been clear that it is unconstitutional to detain and punish noncitizens who have not committed crimes. The high court has also held that prolonged detention of noncitizens when removal is only a slim possibility would also raise constitutional concerns, the opinion said.

"But not, as in this case, when deportation is still on the table," Judge Stras said.

Banyee grew up in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident, according to the decision, a legal status he placed in jeopardy with a string of crimes starting with theft and drug possession, and culminating in a robbery conviction that spurred removal proceedings against him in March 2021.

Banyee eventually sought habeas relief from a district court over his prolonged detention in the Kandiyohi County Jail in Minnesota. The lower court ordered an immigration judge to hold a bond hearing, and the judge released Banyee in April 2022 on bond after determining the government had failed to show he was a flight risk or posed a danger.

My Khanh Ngo of the American Civil Liberties Union, who represents Banyee, called the Eighth Circuit's decision reversing his client's release from detention "cruel and wrong."

"Until today, no appellate court has agreed with the government's extreme position that a lawful permanent resident like Mr. Banyee can be categorically detained for a prolonged period of time without ever getting a bond hearing," Ngo said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the ACLU, Banyee fled to the U.S. with his family in 2004 as a refugee. His convictions for petty theft and robbery occurred when he was 18 and 19 years old, the ACLU said.

The ACLU said the Eighth Circuit decision "sets a dangerous precedent" that will allow the federal government to detain noncitizens "for years on end" while their removal proceedings play out, with no opportunity to get a bond hearing, the civil rights organization said in a Sept. 17 press release.

The U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday.

U.S. Circuit Judges Duane Benton, L. Steven Grasz and David R. Stras sat on the panel.

Banyee is represented by My Khanh Ngo, Judy Rabinovitz, Anand Balakrishnan of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Teresa Nelson and Ian Bratlie of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota and by John Bruning with The Advocates for Human Rights.

Attorney General Merrick Garland is represented by Sarah T. Chambers and Courtney Elizabeth Moran of the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, and by Liles Harvey Repp and Ana H. Voss with the Office of the U.S. Attorney.

The case is Nyynkpao Banyee v. Merrick B. Garland et al., case number 22-2252, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

--Editing by Emily Kokoll.