Valley Neighbors

🚨 🎉 Sometimes safety means $73.49 (cost of mailing), access to language assistance and someone to assist.

Two weeks ago, our legal services caseworker assisted in preparing a pro se motion to change immigration court districts from Miami. Today that motion was granted.

Many of our community members that are working through removal proceedings were assigned to court districts in which they no longer live. Changing court districts can mean that community members can avoid dangerous cross country travel that puts them at risk of arrest by authorities. It also means that disruption due to travel requirements are minimized and people can better continue with their court cases.

Community support continues to make these activities possible.

The unlawful detentions of immigrants in Montana is a travesty. 24 people were released by court order on Saturday because they were unlawfully arrested by immigration officials without a warrant or being deemed a flight risk. This is not a one-off instance of a poorly trained officer. This is a systemic problem of unlawful arrests that violates the rule of law.

A total of 52 immigrants were being held at Cascade County Jail on behalf of the federal government are alleging they were unlawfully detained. The judge has agreed that 24 were indeed unlawfully detained, and must now consider individually the cases of the other 28.

Some say, "Only citizens or documented immigrants get rights." But the only way to find out if someone has a legal right to be in the country is through due process. When due process is removed, that means YOUR rights can be violated also. There are already instances of US citizens being wrongly detained by immigration officials, and unless we push back as a country against this injustice, there will be more.

If someone in power wants to arbitrarily decide you are in the country illegally, surely you would want a due process to prove that was not the case. Surely you would not want to be arbitrarily thrown in detention without a warrant. When we stand up for the rights of our neighbors, we are standing up for our own rights too.

But even beyond this, all human beings have rights not by nature of their citizenship or status but *by the nature of being human beings.* In its better moments, America has remembered this. And in its more shameful moments it has abandoned it.

We applaud the work of Upper Seven Law!

Federal judge orders release of 24 people held on immigration detainers in Cascade County U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris of Montana found federal immigration authorities were ignoring his earlier order to release those jailed illegally in the Cascade County jail.

Organizations like Upper Seven Law continue to fight constitutional abuses in Montana. Due process in immigration continues to be the law of the land.

Court orders release of 24 detainees ‘unlawfully’ held in Cascade County Detention Center GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A federal judge on Friday ordered the release of 24 people held by federal immigration officials in Cascade County after finding they were unlawfully detained, according

This week included accompaniment to a USCIS biometrics appointment in Helena. When an immigrant neighbor makes an immigration application, applicants are often required to present themselves for a biometrics appointment which may involve their photo being taken, fingerprints and/or a review of identity documents.

Volunteers driving our neighbors over longer distances to these essential appointments reduces the risk of dangerous police harassment and racial profiling in trafficking stops; something we have seen increasing in frequency across the state.

🏠 🥳 Housing has been a hot topic in The Flathead for quite some time. This weekend, we were able to match two cousins with Valley Neighbors managed housing. This represents the first time in nearly three years these cousins aren’t subject to employer housing, allowing them a greater degree of independence and stability. Many of our immigrant neighbors face additional barriers to accessing housing, including overt discrimination. Being able to connect our immigrant neighbors to housing is an essential service which is only possible through the strong community support we receive.

Montana continues to be a place where the judiciary upholds the civil rights of immigrants 🎉

A federal district court judge late Wednesday afternoon ordered the federal government to release a Billings father and his 9-year-old daughter from immigration custody in Havre, where they have been detained since Aug. 11. The judge’s order requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection to release the pair by 4:45 p.m.

🔗 Link in comments

https://dailymontanan.com/2026/08/20/immigration-authorities-are-detaining-a-montana-child-illegally-attorneys-allege/

Immigration authorities are detaining a Montana child illegally, attorneys allege • Daily Montanan A 9-year-old child with special medical needs from Billings is being held at the Havre Border Patrol Station after an unlawful arrest.

Montana denies most government assistance to noncitizen immigrants in most cases that we encounter. But as we often talk about In Montana, we don't look to the government to solve all our problems. Valley Neighbors was formed by grassroots community members who saw the suffering of immigrants and refugees around the world and saw immigrants in our own community in need of assistance. We didn't think the government needed to solve this problem; we rolled up our sleeves, appealed to our local neighbors, and got busy working on helping.

And before anyone says, "Oh why aren't you helping ____ group in our community instead," our donors and volunteers are some of the most faithful donors and volunteers to other community organizations such as food banks, homeless shelters, and veteran's orgs. Compassion is not a zero sum game. It broadens the heart to serve the community in love.

Thank you to all the commenters on recent posts who are improving our algorithm and helping us get the word out about the importance of this work. Donations are up, thanks to your help! We welcome those who share in compassion for immigrant neighbors to donate here:

Valley Neighbors | Valley Neighbors of the Flathead (Powered by Donorbox)

Many of our immigrant neighbors in the Flathead may have been assigned to an immigration court district in which they have never lived and may be thousands of miles from the Flathead.

Assisting local immigrants in mailing and filing pro se motions to change their immigration court districts to the appropriate district (which is often a more favorable district) helps our neighbors avoid the current government’s efforts to sabotage respondents’ processes by requiring expensive and often dangerous cross country travel.

Postage to ensure proper arrival usually exceeds $70 and requires approximately 4-5 hours of cumulative administrative time (coordinating documents, in-person meeting, printing and mailing time).

Even modest monthly donations MAKE A DIFFERENCE in allowing VN to offer essential services and support.

https://donorbox.org/valley-neighbors?default_interval=o

When people are arrested in the Flathead Valley, this is the ICE prison they are sent to. These are the kinds of conditions our neighbors are forced to endure.

“It’s just a depressing place,” Marcos Angel Hernandez told KIRO 7. “You can tell it drains everybody.”