"On Memorial Day weekend 2025, a woman frantically called to tell me her husband was being removed to Laos late that night, with only hours of notice. Though I'm a solo practitioner with limited resources, I took the case pro bono because my values drive me to help indigent clients. I was aware of the government's catch-me-if-you-can scheme to move detainees around without notice to escape court oversight, but I felt prepared for the challenge"
"Though I secured an order from the northern district of Texas explicitly preventing my client's removal from the United States, he was nevertheless put on an international flight around 1am on Memorial Day. After a restless night making calls and sending emails, I went on a hike to refresh. My client surprised me with an exasperated call from Guam, where he had been deplaned and detained, possibly because of my actions that night. It was a small victory he remained in a US territory."
"I rushed to file for a new order in the district of Guam to help ensure my client was not going to be made stateless, indefinitely imprisoned or removed in a way that defied human rights treaties. Facing the specter of conditions in El Salvador's Cecot facility and the plight of other immigrants having been removed without notice, I had previously secured a class action against removals for my own district around Los Angeles, and I wanted to extend such protection to this client."
A solo practitioner accepted a pro bono habeas case on Memorial Day weekend 2025 after a woman reported her husband's imminent removal to Laos. The lawyer, experienced in habeas practice and an independent legal scholar, obtained a Northern District of Texas order barring removal but the client was placed on an international flight around 1 a.m. and later deplaned and detained in Guam. The lawyer filed a Guam habeas petition to prevent statelessness and indefinite detention, citing human rights risks and prior class-action protections, while confronting a government motion seeking sanctions for the lawyer's litigation efforts.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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