Call it poetic justice — or just common sense finally making a comeback.

In a major win for law-and-order America, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration has every right to detain illegal immigrants without handing them a cushy bond hearing first.

And here’s the kicker — this legal smackdown came courtesy of one of the very people trying to game the system. Enter Joaquin Herrera Avila, an illegal immigrant whose case just blew up in his own face.

Avila was nabbed by ICE agents in Minneapolis last August after failing to produce any documentation proving he had a right to be in the United States. Not exactly a gray area. The Department of Homeland Security did what critics love to complain about: it detained him on the spot and kicked off deportation proceedings — no bond hearing, no delay tactics. Cue the outrage machine.

Avila filed a petition demanding a bond hearing, and in a move that raised eyebrows, a Minnesota judge sided with him. The reasoning? While federal law clearly allows the government to detain illegal entrants without bond, the judge argued that didn’t apply to Avila because he’d been living here for years — as if time alone magically transforms illegal entry into legal residency.

On Wednesday, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit dropped the hammer, reversing the lower court and making it crystal clear: the law is the law. In a 2-1 decision, Judges Bobby Shepard and L. Steven Grasz ruled against Avila, while Judge Ralph Erickson dissented.

Writing for the majority, Shepard cut through the legal gymnastics, stating the statute is “clear that an ‘applicant for admission’ is also an alien who is ‘seeking admission.’” In other words, nice try — but no loophole. Erickson, in dissent, tried to paint Avila as a sympathetic figure, glossing over inconvenient facts.

“Except for a single DUI, for nearly 20 years, Joaquin Herrera Avila had been living a law-abiding life in the United States,” Erickson wrote. “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.”

He continued: “In doing so, the court does not rely on recent congressional action or a change in the regulations governing detention but rather engages in a novel interpretation of ‘alien seeking admission’ that eluded the courts and five previous presidential administrations.”

Meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi wasn’t shy about celebrating what many see as a long-overdue correction. “MASSIVE COURT VICTORY against activist judges and for President Trump’s law and order agenda!” she wrote. “The Eighth Circuit has held that illegal aliens can be detained without bond — following a similar ruling from the Fifth Circuit last month.”

“The law is very clear, but Democrats and activist judges haven’t wanted to enforce it. This administration WILL. Imagine how many illegal alien crimes could have been averted if the left had simply followed the law? Our attorneys @thejusticedept will never stop fighting for President Trump’s agenda.”

For months, courts across the country have been flooded with cases from detained migrants challenging their custody. Too often, lower courts sided with them, handing out bond hearings like party favors — effectively reopening the revolving door critics say has plagued immigration enforcement for years.

The result? Hundreds of illegal immigrants getting a second shot at release while their cases drag on.

That gravy train may have just hit a brick wall. Thanks to Avila’s ill-fated legal gamble, the appeals court has now set a precedent that could shut down the bond-hearing loophole for a wide swath of illegal immigrants.

Sometimes, the system works — even if it takes a case of spectacular backfire to get there.