A federal judge in Great Falls ruled to release Froid diesel mechanic Roberto Orozco-Ramirez from jail on Wednesday evening, siding with his lawyers on their argument that his continued detention was unlawful. On Thursday around 10:50 a.m., after more than 100 days behind bars, Orozco-Ramirez walked out of the Cascade County Detention Center and embraced his oldest son.
Both wiped tears from their eyes and got in the car to return to Froid, where dozens of people planned to celebrate his return.
鈥淚 need to go home,鈥� Orozco-Ramirez said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a long time, but we made it.鈥�
鈥淟et鈥檚 get you the hell out of here,鈥� said his lawyer, Laura Christoffersen.
In a court filing Wednesday, U.S. District Court for the District of Montana Chief Judge Brian Morris wrote that , an undocumented immigrant, who has been detained should be released from Cascade County Detention Center in Great Falls within 24 hours. Morris called the Trump administration鈥檚 interpretation of the longstanding immigration law 鈥渆rroneous鈥� and said people accused of entering the country illegally have a right to due process.
鈥淪uch indifference from the executive branch to the Constitution鈥檚 guarantee of freedom from arbitrary confinement represents grave cause for concern,鈥� he stated in a ruling.
鈥淚鈥檓 excited of course,鈥� Orozco-Ramirez鈥檚 19-year-old son, Roberto Orozco-Lazcano said, sitting in a car outside the detention center Thursday morning, awaiting his father鈥檚 release. 鈥淭his is the news I鈥檝e been waiting for for so long.鈥� He said he was cooking mole Wednesday night at home when his mom told him about the judge鈥檚 ruling.
鈥淚 really couldn鈥檛 believe it,鈥� he said.
Christoffersen, Orozco-Ramirez鈥檚 lawyer, said she was celebrating the ruling.
鈥淎 person, alien or not, cannot be deprived of his liberty without the right to be heard or statutory procedures followed,鈥� she said, standing in the waiting area of the Cascade County Detention Center Thursday morning. 鈥淭he credit here is all due to the good people of Froid, my hometown, of which I am so proud. They were able to raise the money needed to find an expert in immigration law in the matter of a couple of days.鈥�
Froid residents for Orozco-Ramirez鈥檚 legal fund and family since he was arrested in January. Johnny Sinodis, a California-based immigration attorney, represented Orozco-Ramirez in court on Tuesday.
Marvin Qualley, a school bus driver and farmer who is close with Orozco-Ramirez and his family, said he was 鈥渞eally excited鈥� to hear the news of his release.
鈥淚 saw the other three boys this morning,鈥� Qualley said of Orozco-Ramirez鈥檚 three other sons. 鈥淎nd they were just ecstatic. It was pretty cool.鈥�
This is the second case the Froid resident鈥檚 lawyers effectively won. In April, lawyers for the government dropped the felony illegal re-entry charge against him. Within days, Orozco-Ramirez鈥檚 lawyers against various law enforcement and federal entities, including the Cascade County Detention Center and U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE), alleging that his continued detention was unlawful.
Though judges in New York, Georgia and Ohio have made similar rulings on similar cases involving undocumented immigrants in recent months, this seems to be the first ruling of its kind in Montana.
Randy Tanner, a lawyer for the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office for the District of Montana, who represented various law enforcement and federal agencies in court, said his office was reviewing the judge鈥檚 order but did not comment on the ruling.
HOW A DIESEL MECHANIC ENDED UP IN JAIL
Orozco-Ramirez, a diesel mechanic, Little League coach and father of four, was and has been detained ever since. His January arrest shocked the tiny, conservative, northeast Montana town of Froid, population 195, and has of people far beyond the state.
The federal government initially charged Orozco-Ramirez with illegal re-entry in January. A citizen of Mexico, Orozco-Ramirez came to the U.S. as a minor, and has been living in Froid for the last decade. His lawyers fought the illegal re-entry charge, and on April 13, the government . But for the last month, Orozco-Ramirez 鈥� like 鈥� has remained detained.
Days after the government dropped its illegal reentry charge, around 100 miles away to the Havre Sector Border Patrol office. Then, between April 16 to May 4, back to the Cascade County Detention Center, to a county jail in Idaho, to a federal immigration facility in Washington, to a federal facility in Arizona, back to the county jail in Idaho and, eventually, back to the Cascade County Detention Center in Great Falls, where he has been since May 4.
HIS LATEST DAY IN COURT
On Tuesday, about 50 people 鈥� many of whom drove seven hours from Froid to attend 鈥� filled all six wooden benches inside a court room in the Great Falls federal courthouse to hear a judge rule on the civil case.
Wearing jeans and black Orozco Diesel sweatshirts, Orozco-Ramirez鈥檚 four sons, ages 8 to 19, sat in the front row. Their classmates sat beside them. Among other attendees were the boys鈥� school bus driver, school superintendent and their friends鈥� parents. People like Jill Joyce, who lives three hours away in Gallatin Gateway and who had never met Orozco-Ramirez but wanted to show him support, also showed up. Students from Froid, who weren鈥檛 able to attend, gathered early Tuesday morning to take a picture wearing Orozco Diesel shirts to demonstrate support.
Much of the Tuesday hearing centered around the Trump administration鈥檚 new interpretation of decades-old immigration policy. Last July, ICE expanding criteria for which immigrants the agency considers eligible for mandatory detention.
Previously, undocumented immigrants who had been living in the U.S. long-term with no criminal history were eligible for bond. Under the new guidance, those who enter the country illegally are subject to mandatory detention and not eligible for bond.
That new interpretation of the law has been the subject of legal battles amid the Trump administration鈥檚 national immigration crackdown. Federal appeals courts based in New York, Georgia and Ohio have . But circuit courts headquartered in Louisiana and Missouri have . Until Wednesday, no judge in Montana had weighed in on the legal question at hand.
Orozco-Ramirez鈥檚 lawyers are separately challenging his initial deportation in 2009 in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Because that case is ongoing, they say federal immigration enforcement officials cannot legally detain or deport Orozco-Ramirez unless something drastically changes in his case. Sinodis, Orozco-Ramirez鈥檚 lawyer, said he was happy Orozco-Ramirez could reunite with his family.
鈥淩oberto is a truly exceptional individual, as can be easily seen by the outpouring of support that the community has given him and his family,鈥� he wrote in an emailed statement to Montana Free Press. 鈥淯nfortunately, countless other productive and well-respected individuals throughout the country are being subjected to unlawful physical confinement in immigration jails for no other reason but to appease the administration.鈥�
Standing outside the federal courthouse in Great Falls on Tuesday afternoon, Dana Strandlund, a welder in Froid, said he thought Orozco-Ramirez鈥檚 detention was 鈥渟enseless鈥� and 鈥渃ruel.鈥�
鈥淚t was always so distant,鈥� he said of the topic of immigration. Orozco-Ramirez鈥檚 arrest, he added, was a shock to people who never thought Trump鈥檚 national immigration crackdown would reach their rural, conservative and mostly white corner of the state.
鈥淏ut then again, during the run-up to the elections, it鈥檚 all you hear about on the radio and T.V.,鈥� he said.
海角社区app of Orozco-Ramirez鈥檚 release spread across social media on Thursday. While many celebrated his release, others critiqued his approach to entering the United States.
If immigrants like Orozco-Ramirez are 鈥渟uch great people, why didn鈥檛 they come here the legal way?,鈥� one commenter wrote in response to .
鈥淭he man actually works and has for a long time,鈥� another commenter wrote on the same thread. 鈥淕ive him U.S. citizenship, now.鈥�
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Mara Silvers contributed reporting.
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