The complicated story of a 31-year-old San Jose man who has been in this country, undocumented, since he was six years old, has drawn hundreds of supporters as he faces possible deportation.

Guillermo Medina Reyes remains in limbo following a hearing in federal court on Tuesday in San Francisco. The San Jose-based community organizer and immigrants' rights activist has many supporters who rallied outside the Burton Federal Building Tuesday, where Reyes had a hearing concerning a temporary restraining order that had previously been issued by a judge two weeks ago to prevent ICE from detaining him when he appeared for an immigration hearing.

US District Judge Rita F. Lin briefly extended the restraining order Tuesday, giving Reyes a reprieve until Thursday, at which point she expects to rule on Reyes's  petition for a preliminary injunction against ICE until he can have a proper hearing on his immigration status. As Bay Area News Group reports, Reyes emerged from the courtroom and addressed a large crowd of supporters Tuesday morning, saying, "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."

Complicating Reyes's case, as Mission Local reports, is that he has a criminal history. Reyes served 10 years in prison for an attempted murder conviction when he was 16, which he attributes to being a misguided youth. When he was paroled in 2021, he was released into ICE custody, and spent two years in a detention center in Bakersfield.

An immigration judge then ordered Reyes to be released in 2023, determining that he was not a danger to others and was not a flight risk.

More recently, Reyes was arrested for an alleged case of vandalism, which his attorney has said occurred during a mental health episode. As KQED reports, his attorneys are arguing that, because an immigration judge already deemed him not to be a violent criminal, "it would be illegal to re-detain him without another judge reviewing that determination."

Reyes tells Bay Area News Group that he understands "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."

Depending on how Thursday's ruling goes, Reyes could be returned to ICE detention.

Reyes told the crowd Tuesday, per KQED, "I would hope that everybody keeps on fighting and pushing. It’s not just for me, but it’s for the people that are going to come, generation after generation, because if we don’t put a stop to it now, it’s going to get worse."

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