The Dispute Index

Curtis Morrison

Curtis Morrison is a California attorney whose practice focuses on immigration law and federal litigation. He represents immigrants and their families in detention and removal cases. He founded Red Eagle Law and is a founder and partner of Morrison Urena. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Louisville and his law degree at Whittier Law School.

Website (opens in a new tab)
X (opens in a new tab)

What DI has documented

DI has documented statements by Curtis Morrison on Immigration Policy and Law Enforcement. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.

Topics in this coverage

Statements by Curtis Morrison

Curtis Morrison

Role at the time: Immigration attorney representing the family

Challenged the characterization

Statement summary

Morrison challenged DHS's stated enforcement criteria by asking why the family had been detained for six months. His question presented their detention as ongoing.

“If what makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is whether or not they are illegally in the U.S., why have you detained Eissa Hashemi, his wife, and minor child in Texas now for 6 months?”
Read the original post (opens in a new tab)Curtis Morrison questions DHS about six months of Hashemi family detentionX post 2108759172796084471, reply to DHS post 2108655763145073100; October 9 at 11:19 p.m. Eastern
Why we used this label

The reference point is whether ICE detained the family for what Eissa Hashemi's mother did. Morrison asks DHS why, if enforcement turns on whether someone is illegally in the U.S., it has detained Hashemi, his wife and their minor child "in Texas now for 6 months". That disputes DHS's account of whom it targets as applied to this family, so we labeled it Challenged characterization. The closest competing label is Condemned; it loses because the post questions the stated criteria rather than expressly denouncing the detention.

Read statementDid ICE Detain an Entire Family for What Eissa Hashemi’s Mother Did?

Curtis Morrison

Role at the time: Attorney for the family replying publicly on X

Challenged the characterization

Statement summary

Morrison argued that media amplification contributed to the family’s detention.

“journalists giving these nutty netizens a platform was a factor.”
Read the original post (opens in a new tab)Curtis Morrison attributes a role in the arrests to media amplificationOriginal reply to Maria Kari linking a Fox News report
Why we used this label

The statement disputes the claimed justification, characterization or causal account without converting the speaker’s assertion into a finding.

Read statementDid ICE Detain an Entire Family for What Eissa Hashemi’s Mother Did?

Curtis Morrison

Role at the time: Attorney on the family's legal team

Condemned

Statement summary

Morrison said it is shameful that Secretary Rubio takes the position that children should be held accountable for the acts of their parents and grandparents.

“It is shameful that Secretary Rubio takes the position that children should be held accountable for the acts of their parents and grandparents”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Texas Tribune report on extended family detention at DilleyDiscussion of the Hashemi–Tahmasebi family and Curtis Morrison’s comments
Why we used this label

The reference point is whether ICE detained the family for what the children's grandmother did. Morrison calls it "shameful that Secretary Rubio takes the position that children should be held accountable for the acts of their parents and grandparents", treating the detention as punishment for relatives' acts. That denounces the action, so we labeled it Condemned. The closest competing label is Challenged characterization; it loses because he condemns the position outright rather than only disputing how it is described.

Read statementDid ICE Detain an Entire Family for What Eissa Hashemi’s Mother Did?

Curtis Morrison

Role at the time: Attorney for the family

Challenged the characterization

Statement summary

Morrison challenged the stated basis for detention, saying the allegations concerned family relationship rather than individual conduct.

“There’s no specific allegations related to these three individuals other than their familial relationship.”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Associated Press report on the family seeking releaseStatements by Curtis Morrison, Stephanie Knox, Jake Hart, Tommy Pigott, Kiyanoush Razaghi, and Masih Alinejad
Why we used this label

The statement directly disputes the case-specific basis offered for the detention.

Read statementDid ICE Detain an Entire Family for What Eissa Hashemi’s Mother Did?

A participant is a subject of the case. A speaker has a statement documented in it. A commentator has an opinion or editorial documented in it.