A federal judge ordered the release Tuesday of a 20-year-old Bozeman man who had been held at the Cascade County Detention Center in Great Falls following an ICE arrest last week, in one of the first legal rulings to emerge from a wave of immigration enforcement operations that swept Gallatin County beginning June 29.
David Cortes Torres, who was born in Mexico and has lived in Bozeman since 2003, was arrested June 29 and transferred to the detention facility in Helena's neighboring county. He appeared in federal court in Great Falls on Tuesday, where a judge granted his release. The case drew attention in part because Cortes Torres had spent virtually his entire life in Montana.
The ruling comes as immigration attorneys and advocates say federal enforcement activity in the Bozeman area has been unusually concentrated. ICE operations in the week of June 29 involved multiple arrests in Bozeman and the Gallatin Gateway area, with some individuals reported to have been pulled over while driving. The detentions have unsettled the Gallatin County Latino community, with residents and community organizations describing widespread fear in the days following the operations.
The Cascade County Detention Center, located in Great Falls, has served as a holding facility for individuals detained during Montana ICE operations, including those arrested in communities well to the south and west. The use of out-of-county detention makes it harder for families and attorneys to quickly locate detained individuals, immigration advocates have noted.