A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to assist in the return of a Guatemalan man who was deported to Mexico despite his concerns about safety. The man, who is gay, had been granted protection from being sent back to Guatemala by a U.S. immigration judge. However, he was deported to Mexico instead, a decision that the judge described as lacking due process.
After being returned to Guatemala by Mexico, the man, identified as O.C.G., is now in hiding due to fears of persecution and torture. He had presented evidence of being raped and held for ransom while seeking asylum in the U.S. Judge Brian Murphy criticized the administration for wrongfully deporting the man to a country where he had faced violence.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin defended the decision, stating that O.C.G. was in the country illegally and had been granted withholding of removal to Guatemala. She claimed that sending him to Mexico was a safe option pending his asylum claim.
The judge’s ruling is part of a series of court decisions against recent deportations by the Trump administration, including deportations to third countries and the mistaken deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an El Salvadoran resident of Maryland.
In another case, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return from a Salvadoran prison, rejecting claims that it was impossible to retrieve him. The administration had tried to invoke the state secrets privilege to avoid disclosing details about the return.
In his ruling, Judge Murphy emphasized that facilitating O.C.G.’s return to the U.S. should not be a complex task, as the man is not being held by a foreign government and there are no arguments against his return. The judge highlighted the simplicity of the process compared to other cases involving the verb “facilitate.”
