What is the difference between being detained as a danger to the public and as a flight risk?

These are two distinct grounds for detention, and they focus on very different concerns. Danger to the public generally centres on evidence that the person poses a risk of harm to others if released, often connected to a criminal history, a specific pattern of concerning behaviour, or other evidence of risk to public safety. Flight risk, by contrast, is about whether the person is likely to fail to appear for future immigration proceedings or removal, based on things like a history of not complying with previous conditions, weak ties to a fixed address, or other indicators of unreliability in attending required appointments.

A person can be detained on one ground, both, or neither, and the evidence relevant to each is quite different — criminal history and risk assessments speak to danger to the public, while compliance history and community ties speak more to flight risk. The alternatives that might address each concern also differ: strict reporting conditions may address flight risk without addressing a danger concern, for example.

Because the ground relied on shapes both the evidence at issue and what kind of release plan could realistically work, anyone facing a detention review should understand clearly which ground is actually being argued and build a response, with legal advice, specific to that ground.