Hubert Montoya
@hughmazing.bsky.social
West Texas boy that grew up to be an immigration attorney.
I have hearings at the San Antonio immigration court a lot and I can say that ICE is there almost every day and there is a big white charter bus parked outside ready to take people. ICE officers now use the pro bono room as a lounge while pro bono organizations work outside in the parking lot.
I spent the morning at the San Antonio immigration court. It’s out of control.
Crawling with ICE - arresting legal immigrants showing up for court appearances.
I asked one officer who they are prioritizing. His answer: everyone.
I need to share with you what I saw.
Crawling with ICE - arresting legal immigrants showing up for court appearances.
I asked one officer who they are prioritizing. His answer: everyone.
I need to share with you what I saw.
January 22, 2026 at 2:28 AM
I have hearings at the San Antonio immigration court a lot and I can say that ICE is there almost every day and there is a big white charter bus parked outside ready to take people. ICE officers now use the pro bono room as a lounge while pro bono organizations work outside in the parking lot.
Reposted by Hubert Montoya
ICE secretly told its officers that any time someone has been ordered removed, ICE can break down their door.
It has been accepted for generations that the only thing which can authorize agents to break into your home is a warrant signed by a judge. No wonder ICE hid this memo!
It has been accepted for generations that the only thing which can authorize agents to break into your home is a warrant signed by a judge. No wonder ICE hid this memo!
![May 12, 2025
MEMORANDUM FOR: All ICE Personnel
FROM: Todd Lyons Acting Director
SUBJECT: Utilizing Form I-205, Warrant of Removal
On January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, directing the Secretary of Homeland Security to "ensur[e] the successful enforcement of final orders of removal." 90 Fed. Reg. 8443, 8444 (Jan. 20, 2025) (E.O. 14159). Essential to the removal of aliens subject to final orders of removal is the ability to locate and arrest them. To this end, certain supervisory immigration officers within both Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) are authorized to issue an administrative warrant, Form I-205, Warrant of Removal (Form 1-205), for the arrest of an alien with a final order of removal. 8 C.F.R. § 241.2(a)(1). All U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents and deportation officers are authorized to execute Forms 1-205. 8 C.F.R. § 287.5(e)(3)(iii) - (y)
Although the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not historically relied on administrative warrants alone to arrest aliens subject to final orders of removal in their place of residence, the DHS Office of the General Counsel has recently determined that the U.S. Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on administrative warrants for this purpose. Accordingly, in light of this legal determination, ICE immigration officers may arrest and detain aliens subject to a final under of removal issued by an immigration judge, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), or a U.S.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2vtbmhmrwzbqcfv4we4uxzzt/bafkreifrzrvaszfhj4bzhgtyvx3fm6ht4kc2zrwtvozijyxl3zxgp7vx6a@jpeg)
January 21, 2026 at 10:09 PM
ICE secretly told its officers that any time someone has been ordered removed, ICE can break down their door.
It has been accepted for generations that the only thing which can authorize agents to break into your home is a warrant signed by a judge. No wonder ICE hid this memo!
It has been accepted for generations that the only thing which can authorize agents to break into your home is a warrant signed by a judge. No wonder ICE hid this memo!
This is who DHS thinks should represent the US in Immigration Court.
BREAKING: James Rodden, an ICE prosecutor who the Observer identified last year as the operator of an X account that posted “America is a White nation," “‘Migrants’ are all criminals,” and apparent praise of Adolf Hitler, appeared to be back at work Tuesday.
www.texasobserver.org/ice-prosecut...
www.texasobserver.org/ice-prosecut...
ICE Prosecutor Who Runs Racist X Account Returns to Dallas Immigration Court
James Rodden, who the Observer identified last year as the operator of the account that routinely posted hateful statements, appeared to be back at work Tuesday.
www.texasobserver.org
January 14, 2026 at 1:27 AM
This is who DHS thinks should represent the US in Immigration Court.
Some immigration judges have already pretermitted asylum cases because applicants did not pay these fees retroactively.
A federal judge in Baltimore blocked the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security from retroactively imposing asylum fees that have put some immigrants at risk of losing deportation protections.
DHS, DOJ Blocked from Requiring Retroactive Asylum Fee Payments
A federal judge in Baltimore blocked the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security from retroactively imposing asylum fees that have put some immigrants at risk of losing deportation protections.
bit.ly
October 30, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Some immigration judges have already pretermitted asylum cases because applicants did not pay these fees retroactively.
The immigration court is no longer providing case information for asylum applicants online and is instead telling them that they must go in person to get any case information. And of course, ICE is lying in wait.
October 27, 2025 at 10:33 PM
The immigration court is no longer providing case information for asylum applicants online and is instead telling them that they must go in person to get any case information. And of course, ICE is lying in wait.
Reposted by Hubert Montoya
It's like a Choose Your Own Hatch Act Violation.
October 1, 2025 at 5:35 PM
It's like a Choose Your Own Hatch Act Violation.
Reposted by Hubert Montoya
In this post, I describe why the Pentagon's plan to use JAG officers as immigration judges is dangerous and illegal. It also highlights a broader constitutional flaw in our immigration law system: reason.com/volokh/2025/...
Perils of the Pentagon's Plan to Use Military Lawyers to Adjudicate Immigration Cases
NA The Pentagon is planning to divert up to 600 military lawyers (known as "JAGs" - members of the Judge…
reason.com
September 7, 2025 at 8:56 PM
In this post, I describe why the Pentagon's plan to use JAG officers as immigration judges is dangerous and illegal. It also highlights a broader constitutional flaw in our immigration law system: reason.com/volokh/2025/...
Reposted by Hubert Montoya
Not only did federal goons show up to try and intimidate our governor, they did so on hallowed ground. Gov. Newsom was speaking at the Democracy Center at the Japanese American National Museum, which I helped found so we do not repeat the horrors and injustices of the past. Shameful.
August 15, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Not only did federal goons show up to try and intimidate our governor, they did so on hallowed ground. Gov. Newsom was speaking at the Democracy Center at the Japanese American National Museum, which I helped found so we do not repeat the horrors and injustices of the past. Shameful.
I went to the San Antonio immigration court and there were about 5-6 ICE agents just hanging out in the pro bono room which is meant for, uh, pro bono attorneys to meet with their clients. Juuuust great.
August 8, 2025 at 10:58 PM
I went to the San Antonio immigration court and there were about 5-6 ICE agents just hanging out in the pro bono room which is meant for, uh, pro bono attorneys to meet with their clients. Juuuust great.
I think this is the anti-Christian bias they are looking for.
The US Department of Homeland Security is illegally conducting immigration raids in places of worship, schools, and medical clinics, according to several churches, and a Latinx labor union in a new lawsuit Monday.
Noem, DHS Sued Over Immigration Raids at Worship Houses, Schools
The US Department of Homeland Security is illegally conducting immigration raids in places of worship, schools, and medical clinics, according to several churches, and a Latinx labor union in a new lawsuit Monday.
bit.ly
April 28, 2025 at 10:45 PM
I think this is the anti-Christian bias they are looking for.
Won my Cuban asylum case in El Paso! DHS waived appeal. Glad even they saw it was a strong case. So happy for my clients. They live in Odessa, Texas, not too far from my hometown. Keep fighting!
April 23, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Won my Cuban asylum case in El Paso! DHS waived appeal. Glad even they saw it was a strong case. So happy for my clients. They live in Odessa, Texas, not too far from my hometown. Keep fighting!
A Texas A&M student called me because his visa was revoked. This is so F-ing wrong. I had classmates that were here in student visas and did nothing but work hard and enrich the learning experience.
April 15, 2025 at 5:53 PM
A Texas A&M student called me because his visa was revoked. This is so F-ing wrong. I had classmates that were here in student visas and did nothing but work hard and enrich the learning experience.
DHS is telling me, an immigration attorney, US citizen, that I have seven days to leave the country. I wasn’t paroled into this country. I was born here. The constitution says I’m a citizen. I ain’t going anywhere! I got clients to defend in court.
April 14, 2025 at 4:59 PM
DHS is telling me, an immigration attorney, US citizen, that I have seven days to leave the country. I wasn’t paroled into this country. I was born here. The constitution says I’m a citizen. I ain’t going anywhere! I got clients to defend in court.
So not just me. I thought it was for one of my clients, but no, it was addressed to me. I guess they want to deport immigration attorneys too. Who cares if they are US citizens.
Some personal news: the Department of Homeland Security has given me, an immigration lawyer born in Newton, Massachusetts, seven days to leave the U.S. Does anyone know if you can get Italian citizenship through great-grandparents?
April 12, 2025 at 3:03 AM
So not just me. I thought it was for one of my clients, but no, it was addressed to me. I guess they want to deport immigration attorneys too. Who cares if they are US citizens.
One of my clients tried to pay his taxes, and the IRS rejected, because his Social Security number was invalid, even though the SSA issued it. This is explains why.
Social Security Reclassifies Alive Immigrants as Dead to Push Them to Leave
The Trump administration has moved to classify more than 6,000 living immigrants as dead, canceling their SSNs and effectively wiping out their ability to work or receive benefits.
time.com
April 11, 2025 at 12:55 PM
One of my clients tried to pay his taxes, and the IRS rejected, because his Social Security number was invalid, even though the SSA issued it. This is explains why.
This is horrifying.
UPDATE: ICE is wildly unconcerned about where this man is and no one will tell me, his registered attorney. The universal answer so far is "let's wait and see where he ends up." This is deeply off.
We would have more rights at this point if UPS had lost a pair of shoes I'd just bought from Zappos
We would have more rights at this point if UPS had lost a pair of shoes I'd just bought from Zappos
My detained client was scheduled for a bond hearing this AM in a MA immigration court. He wasn't brought in, and he and his case have disappeared.
I then received this notice of activity on a nonexistent docket in which his name was changed to "N/A"
It's all happening a lot faster than I expected
I then received this notice of activity on a nonexistent docket in which his name was changed to "N/A"
It's all happening a lot faster than I expected
April 9, 2025 at 4:32 AM
This is horrifying.
Reposted by Hubert Montoya
I had an immigration judge tell me that when the police told my client “you should pay the gang, it would be a shame if something bad happened to you” it was just the police looking out for him and not that the police were unable or unwilling to protect him.
April 8, 2025 at 11:04 PM
I had an immigration judge tell me that when the police told my client “you should pay the gang, it would be a shame if something bad happened to you” it was just the police looking out for him and not that the police were unable or unwilling to protect him.
Glad to see David D. Meyer’s name on this list! Now at @brooklynlawschool.bsky.social. but he was such a great dean during my time at @tulanelaw.bsky.social He helped me out when I needed support. Forever grateful. Thanks for standing up against this madness.
Today, #GeorgetownLaw Dean William M. Treanor joined 79 law school deans in signing the letter posted below, issued March 26, 2025.
[ Those signing are expressing their personal views and are not speaking for their institutions. Find the full letter and list of signatories: bit.ly/4hSna6u ]
[ Those signing are expressing their personal views and are not speaking for their institutions. Find the full letter and list of signatories: bit.ly/4hSna6u ]
!["As deans of law schools, we have a special responsibility for the legal profession. Recently, the federal government has imposed significant sanctions on the law firms of Perkins Coie, Covington & Burling, Paul Weiss, and Jenner & Block seemingly because of the clients they and their lawyers represented and litigation in which their lawyers participated.
We write to reaffirm basic principles: The government should not punish lawyers and law firms for the clients they represent, absent specific findings that such representation was illegal or unethical. Punishing lawyers for their representation and advocacy violates the First Amendment and undermines the Sixth Amendment.
We thus speak as legal educators, responsible for training the next generation of lawyers, in condemning any government efforts to punish lawyers or their firms based on the identity of their clients or for their zealous lawful and ethical advocacy."
[Those signing are expressing their personal views and are not speaking for their institutions]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:326sthh7kvwgjxiobjabout2/bafkreidwv4buajoyedezluwpxxlzg4nyrkko647r3q37yjbfcouat3hrpy@jpeg)
March 26, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Glad to see David D. Meyer’s name on this list! Now at @brooklynlawschool.bsky.social. but he was such a great dean during my time at @tulanelaw.bsky.social He helped me out when I needed support. Forever grateful. Thanks for standing up against this madness.
The asylum office scheduling interviews at 7:30am is some hateful sh*t.
March 7, 2025 at 6:14 PM
The asylum office scheduling interviews at 7:30am is some hateful sh*t.
The people I deal with regularly. This is very troubling. There is a DHS attorney to Immigration Judge pipeline. DOJ will often hire these people as immigration judges and we are supposed to pretend that they are impartial.
👀
February 20, 2025 at 2:17 AM
The people I deal with regularly. This is very troubling. There is a DHS attorney to Immigration Judge pipeline. DOJ will often hire these people as immigration judges and we are supposed to pretend that they are impartial.
My client finally got his asylum interview scheduled after filing it in 2014.
February 5, 2025 at 5:29 PM
My client finally got his asylum interview scheduled after filing it in 2014.
Many people don’t know, but Immigration judges aren’t real judges. They are attorneys that work for the Attorney General. They are part of the executive branch and just follow whatever orders they are given. No real judicial independence. Also, the rules say we have to call them “your honor.”
January 23, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Many people don’t know, but Immigration judges aren’t real judges. They are attorneys that work for the Attorney General. They are part of the executive branch and just follow whatever orders they are given. No real judicial independence. Also, the rules say we have to call them “your honor.”
Reposted by Hubert Montoya
US President-elect Donald Trump is expected to issue a flurry of executive orders aimed at speeding up the deportation process when he takes office, prompting an overwhelming source of anxiety for many migrants on the frontline of Trump’s plan reut.rs/3CfbBaD 1/8
The migrants on the frontline of Trump’s mass deportation plan
Blanca Figueroa and Severiano Martinez have known from the start of their eight-year marriage that she was at risk of deportation because she entered the United States illegally.
reut.rs
January 16, 2025 at 5:22 PM
US President-elect Donald Trump is expected to issue a flurry of executive orders aimed at speeding up the deportation process when he takes office, prompting an overwhelming source of anxiety for many migrants on the frontline of Trump’s plan reut.rs/3CfbBaD 1/8
The Dallas Immigration Court keeps rejecting my motion for not paying a fee even though the regulations and practice manual say no fee is required because it’s based on an asylum application. THE REGULATIONS SO NO FEE. I refiled explaining this and again they rejected. Ok,let’s ignore the law.
December 5, 2024 at 6:09 PM
The Dallas Immigration Court keeps rejecting my motion for not paying a fee even though the regulations and practice manual say no fee is required because it’s based on an asylum application. THE REGULATIONS SO NO FEE. I refiled explaining this and again they rejected. Ok,let’s ignore the law.