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On Jan. 28, 14 Froid residents woke up at 3 a.m. and drove seven hours to Great Falls for their neighbor’s court hearing.
Keith Nordlund, who works at a local power plant, said the group had one goal: “To see Roberto, and to have him see us.”
The group filled two benches in the federal courthouse, and some people stood in the back. The room went quiet when their neighbor, Roberto Orozco-Ramirez, walked in. Wearing jeans and a dark gray pullover, he flashed a quick wave to three of his sons sitting in the front row. Orozco-Ramirez then sat next to his public defender, his back to the crowd. As the judge spoke, Orozco-Ramirez’s sons, all wearing black sweatshirts, sat with their backs straight and leaned forward, hanging on to the judge’s every word. One of them tapped their foot on the courtroom floor.
Froid is a tiny town of 195 residents in the northeast corner of the state. And in the last election, 75% of voters there supported President Donald Trump, who has made deportation a centerpiece of his administration. But Border Patrol’s recent arrest and detainment of Orozco-Ramirez — a beloved father of four and hard-working mechanic — has, according to one resident, “rocked everybody’s world.”
As people fight to support their neighbor and friend, many are also forced to confront their own complicated views on immigration. Some people said they thought the purpose of Trump’s policy was to deport gang members and criminals, not a hard-working neighbor who’d lived in the community with his family for more than a decade, and according to court documents, has no criminal record. Others were surprised to see the tentacles of the national immigration crackdown stretch into their tiny town.
Orozco-Ramirez’s initial appearance hearing was just eight minutes long, and not much was decided. The judge set two more hearings for next week and said Orozco-Ramirez would remain detained until then. On Jan. 30, his name appeared on the Cascade County Jail roster.
When a U.S. marshal escorted Orozco-Ramirez out of the courtroom, the Froid residents who attended his hearing flooded into the hallway. In the courthouse elevator, Orozco-Ramirez’s sons, the oldest of whom is 18, looked down at their shoes, tears welling in their eyes.
“Do you guys want hugs?” Rachel Sundheim, a Froid resident, asked, dabbing her own tears with a tissue. The boys shook their heads no.
“OK,” she said.
Then, the 14 Froid residents got back in their cars to drive the 400 miles home.
“Everybody’s gotta work tomorrow,” Nordlund said. “More people wanted to come today, but the whole town would’ve shut down.”
— Nora Mabie
Blowback 💨
About two dozen people packed a public meeting room Tuesday to express to the Laurel City Council their vehement opposition to the state proposal to build a new psychiatric facility on the outskirts of town, one intended to treat people in the criminal justice system.
City council members sat in silence as they listened to nearly two hours of commentary from frustrated community members about the selection of a 114-acre parcel just off Old Highway 10 and Golf Course Road. The council is not currently considering a request from the Gianforte administration to annex the property to connect it to Laurel’s city water and sewer infrastructure. But the prospect of such a request materializing in the not-so-distant future has led the Laurel city attorney to repeatedly instruct elected officials to refrain from issuing any opinions or views on the matter to avoid the perception of prejudging any request that might come before them.
While the council members’ lips were tightly sealed, residents of Laurel and the surrounding area gave them an earful.
First, they criticized the state’s proposed location for the 32-bed facility, which would put criminal defendants and convicts with severe mental illness within 500 yards of an elementary school, adjacent to residential homes and, some opponents noted, close to a community golf course.
Some went as far as to call the facility a “mental health prison” that would be filled with “the worst of the worst.” Others said they supported the need for more mental health treatment options in the area, just not at that precise location.
“Safety is more than just access to the building. It’s the students and the teachers state of mind,” said Chris Lorash, chair of the Laurel Public Schools board, which recently announced its opposition to the site location. “I’ve already had my children coming home asking about this facility and wondering about what it means. So I think that it’s something that needs to be considered.”
Second, opponents said that connecting the facility to city services would burden Laurel’s limited tax base. Residents are already holding private fundraisers to support schools and emergency first responders, some community members said. Why would Laurel agree to put tax dollars toward a facility that is exempt from paying property taxes and doesn’t obviously support the city’s bottom line?
Perhaps more than any other complaint, residents expressed mistrust and confusion about how Laurel found itself at the top of the state’s list for possible site locations. Repeatedly mentioned by residents was a Nov. 17 letter from the city’s chief administrative officer, Kurt Markegard. Unlike bids from other localities expressing interest in the facility, Markegard’s letter explained that there were no appropriate locations in Laurel’s city limits for the facility, but explained the process for annexing a property to city services.
Residents pointed to that letter as an indication of obscure dealmaking that had been in the works to bring the facility to Laurel dating back to mid-2025.
“Backdoor deals have been made without consulting the Laurel community. We deserve answers,” wrote resident Samantha Mayes, whose public comment letter was read into the public record at the meeting by the city attorney. “I again want to know what role the city played in this decision, how Laurel was selected over other willing communities, and most importantly, how the voices of residents and elected officials are intended to be heard.”
In a statement in between rounds of public comment, Markegard briefly responded to some of the criticism filed against him via email and letters to council members and city staff. The Gianforte administration approached him and the mayor back in July, Markegard said, along with officials from Billings and Yellowstone County, to consider possible local sites for the facility. Markegard told community members that he was willing to go through his emails and all his communication about the issue since then, promising to be an open book.
“I want open and transparent government. That’s what I want. That’s what I want from the council members. That’s what I want from the mayor and I want that from the public,” Markegard said.
The city commission did not take any action related to the mental health facility after public comment.
— Mara Silvers
Following the Law ⚖️
A federal judge on Jan. 26 ruled that a lawsuit filed by two Montana State University students whose visas were temporarily revoked last year under the Trump administration’s “student criminal alien initiative” can proceed.
The students, who are from Turkey and Iran, are referred to as John Roe and Jane Doe in the lawsuit they filed last year. One was pursuing a master’s degree in microbiology and the other was working toward a doctorate in physics and electrical engineering when MSU discovered during a routine review of international student records that their F-1 visas had been revoked.
Shortly after that discovery, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on behalf of the students, arguing that their visas should be restored because they were in “full compliance” with their visas’ terms and the federal government failed to provide the students or their school with “any meaningful explanation” for their visas’ termination.
Days after the lawsuit’s filing, Dana Christensen, a federal district court judge in Missoula, blocked the Department of Homeland Security from revoking the visas. DHS asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit in September, arguing that the plaintiffs’ claims were moot because their visas had been reinstated and DHS had changed its policies. The students opposed the motion, maintaining that “there is no assurance that [the federal government] will not once again unlawfully and arbitrarily” revoke the students’ visas in the future.
In a 15-page order issued on Jan. 26, Christensen sided with the plaintiffs, writing that “it is simply not clear what DHS’ new policy is, and consequently, whether that new policy fully addresses the issues presented in this case.” Christensen also agreed with the plaintiffs that it is not clear that “the challenged conduct will not recur.”
Alex Rate, an attorney for ACLU, told the Helena Independent Record that the judge’s order will allow the plaintiffs to depose immigration officials about their actions.
The Doe v. Noem lawsuit is one of at least 65 lawsuits filed against the federal government last year in response to its move to “quietly and unexpectedly” terminate international students’ visas, according to reporting by Inside Higher Ed. Judges assigned to those cases blocked the revocations in more than half of them, Inside Higher Ed found in its April report.
—Amanda Eggert
Wildlife Watch 🐦
The Montana Department of Livestock has confirmed the presence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza — bird flu — in a backyard chicken-and-duck flock owned by a Carbon County resident.
In a press release, the Montana Department of Livestock said it’s the first confirmed detection in a domestic poultry flock since October. Outbreaks tend to increase during spring and fall, when waterfowl are migrating.
“The Carbon County case is part of the avian influenza outbreak that has been going on for almost 4 years now,” Montana Assistant State Veterinarian Emily Kalecyzc said in the Jan. 27 press release. “Even though the disease has only impacted a small percentage of Montana flocks, ongoing vigilance and increased biosecurity remains important to protect the health of poultry, domestic animals and people.”
The virus can spread to humans, though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers the transmission risk to the general population low. Other animals, both domestic and wild, can contract the virus by coming into contact with infected birds or feeding on their carcasses.
According to a database maintained by the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, hunters and wildlife managers have found HPAI in more than 40 wild birds since Oct. 1, including great-horned owls, red-tailed hawks, bald eagles, and Canada geese. In 2023, three western Montana grizzly bears infected with HPAI became sick enough that the wildlife managers euthanized them. The grizzlies exhibited blindness, disorientation and other neurological issues, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Testing confirmed that they had contracted the virus.
The years 2022 and 2023 were particularly bad for HPAI, with tens of millions of birds infected with the virus nationally. Since 2022, more than 160,000 birds have become infected in Montana, which has contributed to stubbornly high egg prices at the grocery store.
—Amanda Eggert
Highlights ☀️
In other news this week —
- A fireworks-and-gasoline “device” caused Helena High School students to cancel an anti-ICE protest.
- Montana’s population growth remains well below the COVID boom years.
- An earthquake rocked central Montana this week.
On Our Radar
Katie — As someone who is trying to eat less meat without completely foregoing protein, I’ve been on the hunt for recipes that fight the tasteless-tofu stereotype. This kung pao tofu was a recent hit in my household, and I’d love to hear your tofu favorites!
Jacob — I have long thought I had dreamt up the image of a figure with a shifting masquerade mask, who introduces himself as an angel named Satan, delivering an eerie, existential monologue to a group of children. But the scene is real, it’s in a movie, and is just as unsettling as my subconscious led me to believe. Watching it now, it’s wild that this was marketed as a children’s film.
Holly — I’ve got a request for my fellow Montanans: does anyone have a link to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart episode from 2006 in which correspondent Jason Jones mocks Butte’s efforts to make the Berkeley Pit a tourist attraction? IIRC, the segment features Fritz Daily, one of the Mining City’s biggest champions, who died this week. Fritz was the most Butte “Butte guy” that ever lived and left an indelible mark on his community.
Mara — Here’s an exercise in vulnerability: The older I get, the harder I find it to elegantly crack an egg. The issue, perhaps, comes down to a lack of confidence. I overthink it, tap too lightly, press on the wrong spots and end up with shell all over. In that vein, here’s a timeless overview of why cracking an egg remains a fascinating test of physics.
Eric — It’s been a week. Here’s a cat video, one of the all-time classics.
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