A federal district court judge on Thursday heard arguments in a class action lawsuit in which petitioners held in federal detention on civil immigration charges allege they have been unlawfully detained.  The lawsuit, filed by Helena-based Upper Seven Law on Aug. 2, was instigated by the arrest of Jesus Verde Hernandez, who lives in Worden, a small farming community in Yellowstone County, with his partner and three children, who are U.S. citizens. According to court documents, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents stopped Hernandez on July 30 when he was driving in Lewistown. The agents arrested Hernandez on civil immigration charges and detained him in Lewistown before transferring him to facilities in Jordan, Malta, Havre, and eventually the Cascade County Detention Center in Great Falls.  Upper Seven alleges that Hernandez was arrested without probable cause or a warrant and was detained unlawfully. Attorneys allege that federal officers did not conduct a required flight risk assessment or evaluate whether Hernandez posed a danger to his community before detaining him. Chief United States District Court Judge Brian Morris on Aug. 7 ruled in favor of Hernandez individually and ordered the government to release him from detention.  Class members include individuals who, like Hernandez, are or have been detained by the federal government on civil immigration charges, and who allege they are or were wrongfully detained. As of Aug. 21, approximately 41 plaintiffs had joined the class, according to Upper Seven. Lawyers representing the class allege that the petitioners’ continued detention violates their constitutional rights and have asked Morris to grant their immediate release or, alternatively, order bond hearings.  A lawyer representing the respondents — who include Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter, Acting Attorney General of the United States Todd Blanche, Department of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and several CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials — argued Thursday that the judge does not have legal authority to grant the requested relief.   The case comes amid a national rise in habeas petitions, or petitions for release, as the Trump administration deploys federal immigration agents in multiple American cities to enact mass deportation policies, sometimes without clear processes. There have been five habeas cases in Montana since Jan. 2025, according to ProPublica.  COURT HEARING Arguments in Thursday’s hearing were highly technical, involving primarily whether the judge has authority to grant a certain type of relief. Randy Tanner, a lawyer representing the federal government who appeared via Zoom, argued that the court does not have authority in this case to grant injunctive relief, which Tanner said could include an order requiring the government to provide bond hearings. Injunctive relief refers to a court order requiring an entity to take a certain action.  Judge Brian Morris asks questions of Johnny Sinodis, Roberto Orozco-Ramirez’s lawyer, during a habeas corpus hearing May 12, 2026, at the Missouri River Courthouse in Great Falls. Credit: Shauna Layton Upper Seven attorney Andres Haladay argued that the petitioners are not seeking injunctive relief, but rather declaratory relief, or a statement that an action is unlawful, and habeas relief, or release from detention, which he said the court has authority to rule on. Tanner also alleged that the petitioners have not satisfied certain criteria necessary to define their class. He said there is “no evidence that the circumstances of Mr. Hernandez’s arrest are indicative, typical or common of the other class members.” Haladay argued that the record reveals a pattern of individuals being arrested and detained without individual assessments of flight risk.  “The government is not doing what it is supposed to do under statute,” he said.  Morris said he would issue an order “as soon as I can.”  CLASS MEMBERS While most members of the class are unnamed, court documents include details regarding at least three people who allege they’ve been wrongfully detained. Each alleges having been arrested without being served a warrant. They describe poor conditions in detention and allege that federal immigration agents pressured them to sign documents, according to court filings.  Jonny Hernandez Antunez, a 26-year-old who lives in Butte, was arrested and detained by CBP agents on Aug. 5 in Billings, according to court documents.   “A CBP agent put me in his car and told me that he wanted me to run so that he could use his gun on me,” according to Antunez’s declaration. “… I was terrified.” Antunez also alleges that agents asked him to sign a document written in English, which he cannot read, and later told him the document was a “voluntary departure form.” Antunez alleges that after he was arrested, Border Patrol agents put him and other detainees in “the back of a truck that was like a box.” “I began hitting the wall of the box, asking for more air,” according to his declaration. “At some point, my heart began to beat really fast. I felt the guy sitting next to me pour water on my head. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I believe that I passed out from the heat.” Antunez, who as of Aug. 27 was still detained in Cascade County, alleged in court documents that he shares a cell with two people detained on criminal charges. “They do not speak Spanish, so I cannot speak to them,” he wrote in a declaration. “There are only two beds. I sleep on a pad on the floor.” Irving Alonso Acosta, 26, lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with his wife and son, who are both U.S. citizens. He and his family were on vacation in North Dakota on Aug. 10 when they drove to Sidney for medical care. Acosta alleges they took a wrong turn, and while they were parked at a gas station, a local sheriff’s deputy arrested him and took him to a local sheriff’s office. There, according to court documents, a CBP agent arrested Acosta and took him to Plentywood and then to a nearby CBP office, where he was detained. He alleges that while he was resting in his cell in a Border Patrol office near Plentywood, a Border Patrol agent “kicked me in my back to get my attention.” He alleges the agent “threatened me and told me that if I talked to anyone, such as an attorney, I would have to stay in the jail.” Acosta alleges the agent pressured him to sign a document without speaking with his wife, and said, “if you don’t sign, I’m going to sign it for you.”  Read the petition for write of habeus corpusDownload Acosta alleges that Border Patrol agents transferred him to the Cascade County Detention Center, where he remains detained, between the night of Aug. 13 and the morning of Aug. 14. He alleges that he is allowed out of his cell one hour a day, sometimes at 3 a.m., making it difficult to contact his wife or lawyer.  Jose Alfredo Martinez Alaniz lives in Denver, but had been staying with his brother in Missoula. He alleges that he and his brother, Margarito Martinez Alaniz, were driving to Missoula from Denver when a Montana Highway Patrol trooper pulled them over on Aug. 3. Jose’s declaration alleges that a Border Patrol agent was in the state trooper’s car. A Border Patrol agent, according to court documents, arrested Alaniz and his brother and transported them, along with other detainees, to a Border Patrol station near the Canadian border. There, Alaniz alleges in court documents, Border Patrol agents asked him questions without advising him that he could talk to a lawyer. Alaniz wrote in his declaration that he signed paperwork assenting to voluntary departure “because I thought it meant I could get out of detention faster.” He signed several other documents, though he alleges that agents did not explain their contents. On Aug. 5, Border Patrol agents transported Alaniz and his brother to Cascade County Detention Center, where they remain detained, according to court documents. “I want to remain in the United States with my family,” Alaniz wrote in his declaration. “I feel exhausted and scared being in detention and not knowing what will happen to me.” The post Judge hears arguments in immigration class action  appeared first on Montana Free Press. ...read more read less