A San Jose tattoo artist facing possible detention by immigration authorities will have to wait for a judge’s decision after his hearing concluded Friday in San Francisco.

Guillermo Medina Reyes went before an immigration judge inside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in downtown San Francisco for a bond hearing that was to determine whether he will remain free or be sent to ICE detention.

The judge did not rule from the bench, saying he would communicate his decision to lawyers in writing, according to Danny Celaya, an organizer with the Community Service Organization of Oakland. The group organizes mobilization efforts for immigration rights and other issues.

Outside the ICE building, hundreds of faith leaders and immigrant rights activists rallied in song and prayer in support of Medina Reyes all Friday afternoon.

Supporters of Guillermo Medina Reyes hold signs during a rally outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in San Francisco. Medina Reyes is a San Jose tattoo artist facing immigration detention after spending more than one year in custody of ICE. (Alise Maripuu/Bay City News)

Attendees repeated chants and sang in unison, sprawling across Sansome Street. They chanted songs and held up signs that read “All people are sacred,” and “Don’t kidnap Guillermo.”

“The possibility that I may not come back out, that’s something that I had to accept before coming here today,” Medina Reyes said in a speech prior to his court hearing.

After the hearing ended Friday, Medina Reyes was not in custody, according to Celaya.

Trying to overcome a violent past

Medina Reyes came to the U.S. from Mexico at the age of 6 and said he grew up without a clear path to citizenship. He got involved in crime at a young age and was imprisoned for attempted murder at the age of 16.

He was released after 12 and a half years in prison, but immigration authorities quickly detained him, and he was taken to an immigration detention facility, where he was held for over a year.

“It turned out that immigration facilities were worse,” Medina Reyes said. “The racist treatment by the guards, the lack of medical and mental health care, working for eight hours a day and only being paid one dollar, surely made me want to go back to prison. Not to mention the inhumane conditions were unbearable.”

“After a year and a couple months, I finally got released on bond. I was working hard to rebuild my life and become the best version of myself.”

Guillermo Medina Reyes

He was in detention for more than a year before being released.

“After a year and a couple months, I finally got released on bond. I was working hard to rebuild my life and become the best version of myself,” he said. “Then last year the immigration raids began increasing and I was seeing videos everywhere of masked agents in military gear attacking people who looked like me.”

After his release, the threat of being re-detained by ICE returned. Immigration authorities under President Donald Trump have stated that Medina Reyes is a threat to the public because of his criminal record.

In June, U.S. District Judge Rita Lin granted a preliminary injunction preventing ICE from detaining him without a bond hearing, which took place Friday.

“Guillermo and his legal team, with the support of our community, have won the chance to go in front of the judge and have a bond hearing through the habeas petition filed in June of last year,” said Esperanza Cuautle, a community organizer who advocates for people detained by ICE.

“This hearing underscores a fundamental a fundamental principle — no agency should have unchecked authority to deprive someone of their freedom,” Cuautle said.