A federal judge has ordered the release of Jesus Verde Hernandez, a Worden man whose attorneys argued he was unlawfully detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Hernandez had been held at the Cascade County Detention Center after authorities arrested him last week.
Hernandez's legal team contended the detention lacked legal basis, and the federal court agreed, issuing the release order. The case drew attention in part because Worden is in Yellowstone County — far from the Canadian border — raising questions about the geographic reach of CBP enforcement operations in Montana's interior.
The Cascade County Detention Center in Great Falls has appeared in several immigration-related detention cases in recent months as federal enforcement activity has increased across Montana. Civil liberties advocates have pointed to cases like Hernandez's as examples of detention they say goes beyond the agency's proper scope. CBP had not issued a public response to the court's ruling as of Friday.