St. Louis, Missouri - An appeals court on Wednesday ruled that the US can keep detaining immigrants without bond in a victory for the Trump administration.

In a 2-1 decision, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling which would have required Joaquin Herrera Avila, a Mexican citizen who entered the US without documentation, be allowed a bond hearing before an immigration judge.

Avila was detained in Minneapolis in August of last year and faces removal proceedings.

The majority ruled on Wednesday that people without documentation detained anywhere in the US could be considered to be "seeking admission" to the country and for that reason be detained without bond.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a similar ruling in February.

In the past, immigrants who lived in the US for years without documentation and without criminal convictions were usually eligible for bond hearings in which they could seek release from detention while fighting their deportation cases.

"Except for a single DUI, for nearly 20 years, Joaquin Herrera Avila had been living a law-abiding life in the United States," Judge Ralph R. Erickson wrote in his dissenting opinion.

"For the past 29 years, Avila would have been entitled to a bond hearing during his removal proceedings. The court now holds that Avila – and millions of others – are subject to mandatory detention."

The Trump administration has hailed the appeals court ruling.

"MASSIVE COURT VICTORY against activist judges and for President Trump’s law and order agenda!" Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X. "The law is very clear, but Democrats and activist judges haven’t wanted to enforce it. This administration WILL."