BOZEMAN — ICE activity has heightened in the Bozeman area over the past week, and one recent arrest is now facing a constitutional challenge in federal court.
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According to a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, 20-year-old Jose David Cortes Torres was pulled over June 29 while driving to work by a white Dodge Durango with flashing lights.
Court documents allege that federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents — not local police — asked for his driver’s license, told him he did not have the right to be in the United States, pulled him from his vehicle and arrested him. The lawsuit states he was not charged with a crime.
Attorneys representing Cortes Torres say the arrest was part of an operation targeting Latinos in the area.
Cortes Torres is not a U.S. citizen and has lived in Bozeman since 2023, where he previously attended high school. According to the lawsuit, he is also the primary caretaker for his grandmother, who is undergoing cancer treatment.
The lawsuit alleges ICE detained Cortes Torres for more than 24 hours in a holding room at the Helena airport. While in the “Helena Hold Room,” he was allegedly held with more than 15 other individuals.
The petition also claims agents limited his contact with attorneys to a single three-minute phone call.
Last Wednesday, nonprofit law firm Upper Seven Law filed a petition in federal court seeking to require the government to defend its decision to arrest and detain Cortes Torres.
In a press release, Upper Seven Law stated: “ICE has no authority to stop vehicles and arrest people on a whim informed exclusively by the color of their skin and the language they speak. ICE’s conduct — including their efforts to prevent access to legal counsel — appears to violate multiple constitutional rights.”
MTN News asked a representative from the firm why they chose to represent Cortes Torres. Upper Seven Law provided the following statement:
“We’re representing David to ensure that ICE’s unlawful actions don’t go unchallenged, and that David is able to exercise his right to due process under the United States Constitution before being subject to indefinite detention by federal immigration authorities” said Molly Danahy, litigation director for Upper Seven.
MTN News has contacted ICE officials several times regarding last week’s operations in southwest Montana but has not yet received a response.
A judge has ordered that Cortes Torres remain in Montana until the case is resolved. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Great Falls.
