For nearly 30 years, people arrested by immigration enforcement officials inside the United States could typically live freely as they waited for the results of their immigration cases. Under the Trump administration, officials have tried to keep them locked up as part of its major deportation campaign. The legality of that approach is now hotly contested in federal courts.

A Boston-based federal appeals court heard oral arguments in one such case Monday. The case could reverberate across New England – and is looking increasingly likely to wind up before the Supreme Court.

The class action lawsuit, Guerrero Orellana v. Moniz et al., deals with whether unauthorized immigrants detained by federal officials in the U.S. interior are entitled to a bond hearing before an immigration judge under federal law. Such hearings determine whether an immigrant can live in the U.S.…