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 because I’m also an independent legal scholar who published a practice guide to help lawyers navigate habeas corpus actions for immigrant clients.
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.
