(CNN) A federal appeals panel appeared to take issue on Tuesday with a decision by the Trump administration that could subject immigrants to indefinite detention.

The challenge is to a ruling announced by Attorney General William Barr earlier this year that some asylum seekers who have established fears of returning to their origin countries and are subject to deportation cannot be released on bond by immigration judges.

Just minutes into oral arguments before the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, Judge Michael Daly Hawkins asked Justice Department attorney Lauren Bingham: "Can we begin by your telling us if the government's position is that individuals in this class can be detained indefinitely with no process of a bond hearing? Yes or no?"

"I don't think that's the issue in this case," Bingham said.

"I don't care what you think. I would like a yes or no answer to the question," Hawkins said.

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