The Trump administration has stated in court documents that they are taking steps to bring back a Guatemalan man who was deported to Mexico despite his fears of facing harm there. This decision comes after a federal judge ordered the administration to facilitate his return.
The man, who is gay, was initially protected from being sent back to Guatemala under a U.S. immigration judge’s order. However, he was placed on a bus and sent to Mexico instead, a move that Judge Brian Murphy deemed to have lacked due process.
Now, the man is in hiding in Guatemala after being returned from Mexico. The government has approved a significant public benefit parole packet for him, which is pending additional approval from Homeland Security Investigations. This designation allows individuals who are not eligible to enter the U.S. to do so temporarily for reasons related to law enforcement or legal proceedings.
ICE officials in the Phoenix field office have been in contact with the man’s lawyers and are working to bring him back to the U.S. on a chartered plane. The man, identified as O.C.G., had previously been deemed at risk of persecution or torture if returned to Guatemala. He also expressed fear of returning to Mexico, where he claims to have been raped and extorted while seeking asylum in the U.S.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin of the Department of Homeland Security referred to Judge Murphy as a “federal activist judge” and stated that O.C.G. was in the country illegally. Despite being granted withholding of removal to Guatemala, he was sent to Mexico as a supposedly safe third option.
This recent court order by Judge Murphy is part of a series of findings by federal courts against the Trump administration’s deportation practices. These findings include cases of deportations to third countries and the erroneous deportation of individuals such as Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an El Salvadoran who had lived in Maryland for over a decade.
The U.S. Supreme Court has also ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return from a Salvadoran prison, rejecting claims that he could not be retrieved after being mistakenly deported. Both the White House and the Salvadoran president have maintained that they are unable to bring him back.
