Restraining order extended against ICE in case of San Jose tattoo artist

A San Jose community organizer and tattoo artist who faces possible deportation is still in limbo after a court hearing Tuesday.

Rita F. Lin, U.S. District Judge for Northern California, extended a temporary restraining order against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to 5 p.m. this Thursday. By that time, she expects to rule on Guillermo Medina Reyes’ petition for a preliminary injunction against the agency until the formerly incarcerated and detained Mexican immigrant rights leader can have a hearing before an impartial judge about his immigration status.

After the hearing, dozens of legal professionals, immigrant rights advocates and observers who had filled the courtroom and an overflow space in the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco streamed outside to join a rally of hundreds gathered in support of Reyes.

The now-extended temporary restraining order blocked ICE from detaining Reyes, 31, during an unusual check-in with the agency two weeks ago, from which he was released wearing an ankle monitor.

Appearing calm, Reyes told the cheering crowd they should not be afraid to fight for what is right.

“If we don’t put a stop to it now, it’s going to get worse with them and we can’t let that happen,” he said.

Reyes came to the U.S. at age 6 and grew up in San Jose. After serving time for a conviction for attempted murder committed as a teenager, he spent 15 months in immigration detention until his release on bond in 2023. This month, he was charged with felony vandalism stemming from an incident in May that his legal team said was a mental health crisis triggered by ICE activity. Reyes appeared in the plaza shortly after pleading not guilty in a separate courtroom to that charge.

Guillermo Medina Reyes, 31, at a friend’s house in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, July 14, 2025. Reyes, originally from Mexico, had an arraignment and separate court hearing Tuesday which will determine whether ICE will be prevented from detaining him until he gets a chance to have an impartial hearing. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

In court, Pamela T. Johann, the U.S. attorney representing ICE, said Reyes was a convicted aggravated felon and that his recent arrest was sufficient to constitute a material change in the terms of his release from detention, meriting his re-detention.

She said in a situation like this, an immigration judge cannot prohibit ICE from setting its own additional terms for re-detention or release. “The order of supervision is a contract between ICE and the non-citizen,” she said.

Lin interjected with the analogy of someone accused of violation of parole.

“It’s hard for me to imagine it would be okay for the parole officer to decide on their own that a re-violation has occurred,” she said.

“I think what this court is struggling with is that ICE has made this determination, and not a neutral (party),” Johann said. “The default is not liberty — the default here is detention.”

While Lin replied she was unfamiliar with any criminal situation in which the constitutional right to a hearing did not apply, Johann said Reyes belonged to a subsection of criminal offenders who also had a final administrative removal order.

That didn’t sit well with Reyes’ attorney, Victoria Sun, an immigration attorney with Pangea Legal Services.

“ICE should not be able to unilaterally revoke his release,” Sun said.

The proceedings marked another step in an ongoing battle between an increasing number of immigration attorneys and advocates who say ICE is overstepping constitutional rights, even for noncitizens, and the government.

“We’re essentially suing the U.S. government, ICE, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,” said Sun, explaining her team’s case, which argues that ICE has been trying to detain Reyes while skirting his constitutional right to the due process of a hearing before a neutral immigration judge.

Sun said the section of federal code outlining “the continued detention of inadmissible, criminal and other aliens beyond the removal period” has not changed since President Donald Trump took office. But “I do think they’re more aggressive with the interpretation and they’re doing more surprise check-ins.”

She said she and other immigration attorneys have also seen increasing situations where immigrants and refugees classified by the administration as “immigration violators,” who have complied for years with regular check-ins with ICE, suddenly receive summons for a check-in.

“That’s pretty much a red flag that you’re being detained,” she said. “Now there’s a risk that you’ll be sent to South Sudan or Guantanamo.”

Citing similar cases to Reyes’, Sun said access to immigration lawyers is a major determinant of outcome.

“There is a lot of injustice there – there’s not a lot of free services,” she said. “We’re all at capacity.”

Sun is fighting her first federal litigation case for Reyes, who has been vocal about his plight and amassed the support of a legal team and hundreds of community members. Still, polling suggests many Americans think people in situations similar to Reyes’ should be deported.

The Pew Research Center found that about half of U.S. adults say some immigrants living in the country illegally should be deported. And the vast majority – 97% – of those who favor some deportations say perpetrators of violent crimes should go.

In regard to Reyes’ pending felony charge, Sun reminded the court he is entitled to the presumption of innocence.

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But Johann said ICE’s regulations did not require a presumption of innocence.

“He has re-engaged in the criminal system and ICE has determined in good faith that he is a threat,” she said.

Reyes told this news organization the night before the hearing and his arraignment that he has complicated feelings about his circumstances, but he does not feel fear.

“I understand people trying to protect their land and stuff but to try to dehumanize other people while doing that — I think that’s when you’re going about it the wrong way and that’s why I’m not giving up,” he said.

Photographer Jane Tyska contributed reporting.