Submission declined on 11 August 2026 by Sulfurboy (talk). This draft's references do not show that the person meets Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion for people. The draft requires multiple published secondary sources that: provide significant coverage: discuss the person in detail, not brief mentions or interviews lacking independent analysis; are reliable: from reputable outlets with editorial oversight; are independent: not connected to the person, such as interviews, press releases, the subject's own website, or sponsored content. Please add references that meet all three of these criteria. If none exist, the subject is not yet suitable for Wikipedia. If you would like to continue working on the submission, click on the "Edit" tab at the top of the window. If you have not resolved the issues listed above, your draft will be declined again and potentially deleted. If you need extra help, please ask us a question at the AfC Help Desk or get live help from experienced editors. Please do not remove reviewer comments or this notice until the submission is accepted. Where to get help If you need help editing or submitting your draft, please ask us a question at the AfC Help Desk or get live help from experienced editors. These venues are only for help with editing and the submission process, not to get reviews. If you need feedback on your draft, or if the review is taking a lot of time, you can try asking for help on the talk page of a relevant WikiProject. Some WikiProjects are more active than others so a speedy reply is not guaranteed. How to improve a draft Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia – a basic overview on how to edit Wikipedia. Help:Wikitext – how to use the markup Help:Referencing for beginners – how to include references Wikipedia:Article development – how to develop your article Wikipedia:Writing better articles – how to improve your article Wikipedia:Verifiability – make sure your article includes reliable third-party sources You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Add tags to your draft Editor resources Easy tools: Citation bot (help) | Advanced: Fix bare URLs Declined by Sulfurboy 4 days ago. Last edited by Sulfurboy 4 days ago. Reviewer: Inform author. Resubmit Please note that if the issues are not fixed, the draft will be declined again.

• Comment: In accordance with Wikipedia's Conflict of interest guideline, I disclose that I have a conflict of interest regarding the subject of this article. TRAITORSMF (talk) 20:54, 11 August 2026 (UTC)

Michael Foote (born April 20, 1988, in Port Jefferson, New York) is an immigration and criminal defense attorney^[1] best known for his comedic TikTok^[2] videos detailing a day in the life of a lawyer in New York City. His work in federal court for detained migrants and extensive activist litigation in detention centers has brought him to the forefront of the immigration conversation in the US.^[3] As a pro bono partner with the Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU, and the Immigration Justice Campaign^[4][5], his representation has brought him to courtrooms and detention centers across America.^[6]

Since November 2025, Michael has hosted Brief Recess: A Legal Podcast with Michael Foote & Mélissa Malebranche, produced by Exactly Right Media and distributed with iHeartMedia. The weekly show combines legal analysis, current events, interviews, courtroom stories and comedy.^[7]

Michael Charles Foote was born on April 20th, 1988 in Port Jefferson, NY. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and received his law degree from Tulane University School of Law.^[8]

Foote told The Cut in 2025 that he grew up gay in a community where there were very few openly gay young people. He described one other gay teenager in his town as his best friend and said that friend's death by suicide had a profound effect on him. Foote connected that experience with his eventual interest in representing people who find themselves isolated during the worst moments of their lives.^[3]

Foote became a New York State attorney in 2015.^[9] He told The Cut that he volunteered with immigration clinics and discussed working with Safe Passage Project, which provides representation to immigrant children facing deportation.^[10] He recalled accompanying a six-year-old child to immigration proceedings.

His first post-law-school job was instead at an auction house, an experience he jokingly described as involving crawling around in a suit looking for missing works of art, including a Picasso.

His entry into immigration law came through pro bono legal work.^[3]

By the mid 2020s, Foote was publicly detailing through social media his accounts of immigration detention centers and removal proceedings for undocumented immigrants in America. He went viral on TikTok in 2025 after discovering an alleged ICE and DHS brief sent to their attorneys providing guidance with what to do if they encounter him in court.^[11][12]

In a 2026 interview on The Mark Thompson Show, he said that during the COVID era he repeatedly contacted detention facilities seeking access to clients and documented how long it took, or whether he could reach them at all.^[13]

In a 2025 interview with BuzzFeed, Foote lists four pieces of advice if you are detained by ICE.^[14][15]

In 2025, Exactly Right Media, the podcast network founded by My Favorite Murder hosts Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, announced Brief Recess: A Legal Podcast with Michael Foote & Mélissa Malebranche. The show premiered November 13, 2025.^[16]

Episodes have included topics such as immigration enforcement, Supreme Court decisions, discrimination law, criminal trials, the Epstein files, the death penalty, sexual harassment, police conduct and celebrity controversies.^[17]

As of August 2026, Apple Podcasts lists the show as updated weekly with a 4.8/5 rating from more than 350 ratings.^[17]

Michael has also been a guest on Dads and Daddies,^[18] The Mark Thompson Show ^[6][19], Ghosted! By Roz Hernandez^[20], This is Uncomfortable^[21] and My Favorite Murder.^[22]

According to The New York Times, Michael married his husband Brad in 2019. They met in 2015 through the dating app, OkCupid. After a text conversation about Russian literature, Michael and Brad decided to go to dinner and they hit it off right away.^[23]