The Bay Area Habeas Network, a group of nine legal nonprofits and public defenders’ offices, files emergency petitions asking federal judges to review whether immigrants are being held lawfully. A judge can order someone released while their immigration case continues, allowing them to fight it from home rather than detention.

The network’s attorneys demonstrated how quickly the process can work on Tuesday, after federal immigration officers arrested a Mexican-born tow-truck driver in Santa Rosa. Lawyers interviewed him at the San Francisco ICE field office and filed a petition. A federal judge ordered his release that day, and he returned home to his wife and 18-year-old daughter.

The network has filed 49 petitions for 57 Bay Area residents since it began operating May 1. More than 90% resulted in immediate release orders, according to information provided by the network. But attorneys say they lack the capacity to handle every arrest.

“We’re not able to cover them all,” said Jennifer Noris, an immigration defense attorney with the Contra Costa County Public Defender’s Office. The work requires attorneys to gather information from people in detention and, separately, prepare complex legal filings, she said.

The group asked San Francisco for $250,000 in August to pay for another attorney. The mayor’s office said the request would be considered during next year’s budget process. Hillary Ronen, director of La Raza Centro Legal and a network leader, said the funding would not be available until September 2027.

“The emergency is now,” Ronen said, calling for challenges to arrests she described as unlawful to be filed promptly.

The need is substantial. From the beginning of President Donald Trump’s term through July 1, 2026, 116 habeas petitions were filed in the federal court district covering San Francisco. Federal data compiled by UC Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project show 3,870 immigrants were arrested across 18 major Bay Area cities over the same period. Arrests in those cities rose 81% from July 2025 to July 2026, according to an analysis of the data.

The figures suggest that many people arrested in the region did not have a petition filed on their behalf. Speed matters because ICE can transfer detainees out of Northern California, potentially putting them beyond the reach of a petition filed in San Francisco’s federal court. One person arrested in Oakland was transferred to Texas and then deported after lawyers could not locate him in the ICE detainee system, the network said.

When a regional rapid-response hotline reports an arrest, the network works to get an attorney or volunteer to the San Francisco ICE office to interview the detained person. Lawyers then share the information and prepare a petition for a judge to review. Immigration attorney Jordan Weiner, a network founder, said transfers can turn geography into a barrier to legal challenges.

Santa Clara County has committed $250,000 for an additional attorney, while San Mateo County is close to finalizing a contract, according to the network. Napa and Sonoma counties have made preliminary commitments. Network co-founder Shira Levine, a former immigration judge, said a coordinated regional response is important because expanding legal teams cannot happen instantly if enforcement increases.

San Francisco already provides direct funding to several nonprofits in the network, but not to the network itself. The proposed contribution would require approval by the Board of Supervisors as a one-time budget supplement.