CBP arrested a Billings parent and his 9-year-old child without a warrant and held them at the Havre Border Patrol Station

On August 11, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents arrested Adrián Espinoza De La Cruz and his 9-year-old child and took them to the Havre Border Patrol Station in northern Montana, where both were still being held nine days later. Espinoza De La Cruz has lived in Billings for four years, and the child has lived there for three years and attends elementary school in the city, according to the habeas petition later filed on their behalf. The petition states that agents made the arrest without a judicial warrant and that the government detained the two without weighing their ties to Billings. The U.S. Attorney's Office subsequently acknowledged in a court filing that officers arrested the parent and child without a warrant and without evidence they posed an escape risk, and said warrants were issued after the two arrived at the station in Havre.

Attorneys with Upper Seven Law, the Helena firm representing the family, told the court the Havre facility is not designed to be a "long-term detention facility" and that an incarcerated minor is entitled to specific protections, including "suitable living conditions, appropriate and routine medical care, (and) screening for infectious diseases," as well as adequate food, clothing, grooming items, contact with family and a reasonable right to privacy. According to the petition, the station lacked basic amenities including proper bedding, and the child has medical needs and appointments that took months to schedule. The government's filing did not address how it is meeting the standards that apply to holding a minor, and the Daily Montanan reported that CBP, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not answer its questions before publication.

The detention falls inside a pattern already before the same federal court. Espinoza De La Cruz and the child are part of a putative class in a separate Upper Seven Law case alleging the federal government is holding roughly 17 people on immigration detainers at the Cascade County Detention Center in Great Falls, with a hearing set for September 4, 2026. On August 8, 2026, Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Morris ordered the release of another member of that group, Worden resident Jesus Verde Hernandez, finding the government had pursued a detention policy "deemed unlawful by the majority of courts."

Updates

2026-08-18 — Attorneys petitioned for release and the court barred transfer out of Montana [1, 2]

Upper Seven Law filed a petition for writs of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana on behalf of Espinoza De La Cruz and the child, docketed as De La Cruz v. Crosson, No. 4:26-cv-00289. The petition names Havre Sector Chief Patrol Agent Zachary Crosson, ICE Utah Field Office Director Michael Bernacke and acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche among the respondents, argues the detention violates the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Due Process Clause, and asks the court to order immediate release or, failing that, a bond hearing. Chief Judge Brian Morris ordered the petition served on Crosson at the Havre Border Patrol Station the same day, directed the government to respond by August 20, set a show-cause hearing for August 21, 2026 in Helena, and ordered that respondents not transfer the petitioners out of the District of Montana or remove them from the United States.

2026-08-19 — The government acknowledged the warrantless arrest and opposed release [1, 2]

In a response filed on behalf of the United States, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy Tatarka and Randy Tanner acknowledged that officers arrested the parent and child without a warrant and without evidence they posed an escape risk, and said the government issued warrants after the two arrived in Havre. They said both are Mexican nationals present in the United States without legal permission, acknowledged that the court had rejected similar arguments in other cases, and argued that release would still not be appropriate. Tatarka told the Daily Montanan he could not comment on how the government is meeting the standards for holding a minor, and a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office said the office does not typically comment on active litigation.

2026-08-20 — A federal judge ordered their release within 24 hours [3]

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris ordered CBP to release Espinoza De La Cruz and his child within 24 hours under appropriate conditions, barring the government from redetaining them during removal proceedings unless an immigration hearing determines detention is appropriate, and directing the government to return their personal identification and employment authorization documents. Morris wrote that "the court finds this case particularly disturbing considering the government's lack of regard for the rights of a father and minor child," rejecting the government's "free-ranging ability to arrest and detain people, and figure out the reasons later."