CBP arrested Worden, Montana man without a warrant, held him unlawfully for over a week

On July 30, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents stopped Jesus Verde Hernandez, a Worden, Montana resident of ten years with no criminal history, in Lewistown while reportedly searching for a different man they said resembled him. Agents arrested him without a warrant or established probable cause, held him roughly two hours at the Lewistown police station, then transported him overnight through Malta to the Havre Border Patrol Station and on to the Cascade County Detention Center in Great Falls -- a 30-hour journey during which he was offered only crackers and water and denied over-the-counter medication for chronic pain, according to a court filing by his attorneys. Hernandez was allegedly pressured to sign self-deportation paperwork rather than have his detention reviewed by a court.

Hernandez's attorneys at Upper Seven Law petitioned for his release, arguing he was one of approximately 17 people held on immigration holds without criminal charges at the Cascade County Detention Center under a practice of arresting and jailing immigrants without warrants or adequate process.

Upper Seven Law is seeking class certification on behalf of Hernandez and the other Cascade County detainees it says are held on the same basis, with a class-wide hearing scheduled for August 18, 2026, in Missoula.

Updates

2026-08-08 — Judge ordered Hernandez's release [1]

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Morris (D. Mont.) ordered Hernandez released, finding the government had pursued a detention policy "deemed unlawful by the majority of courts" and that Hernandez did not need to exhaust administrative remedies before seeking federal court review of a process the judge called "deficient from the outset." The order applied only to Hernandez, not the roughly 17 other Cascade County detainees Upper Seven Law says are held on the same basis.