A federal judge ordered the Trump administration return a deported Guatemalan national, claiming the government did not give him a sufficient opportunity to express his concern over being deported to Mexico.
Judge Brian Murphy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled Friday that the deported foreigner, labeled as “O.C.G.” in court filings, had received a withholding of removal from
Guatemala, but was deported to Mexico despite expressing fear of returning to Mexico where he claims he was raped and held hostage. Murphy ordered the Trump administration “facilitate” the deported man’s return to the U.S. for due process on his claims of persecution in Guatemala and Mexico.
“On balance, the Court finds that the public benefits from living in a country where rules are followed and where promises are kept. Rules are tedious and frustrating, but they also keep us fair and honest,” Murphy said. “The return of O.C.G. poses a vanishingly small cost to make sure we can still claim to live up to that ideal.”
The deported man’s lawyers said he is in Guatemala, after being given the option of staying in Mexico or returning to Guatemala. The deported man claims he is “living in constant fear of his attackers, being unable to leave the place where he is staying, not being able to rely on the police to protect him, and not being able to see his mother for fear of exposing her to violence, among other hardships.”
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The order to facilitate the return of the deported Guatemalan national comes as a legal battle continues to unfold in the deportation of Salvadoran national and alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
The Trump administration has been ordered to return Abrego Garcia, but neither the U.S. nor the Salvadoran government has returned the deported foreign national as the case in federal court continues.