Trump Administration Mistake in Deportation Case Results in Legal Motion

Lawyers representing a Guatemalan man who was “unlawfully deported” to Mexico have submitted an urgent motion for injunctive relief, requesting that the Trump administration be mandated to “immediately facilitate his return.” This follows the government’s admission on Friday of making “an error” and providing “misrepresentations” to a federal court concerning his deportation, according to the attorneys.

The individual, referred to in court filings as O.C.G., fled Guatemala due to being “persecuted and threatened with death because of his sexual orientation,” his lawyers state. He was detained after entering the United States in March 2024. Reportedly, an immigration judge granted him withholding of removal after a hearing, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not contest the ruling.

“Instead, two days later, DHS officers with the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) division of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) deported him to Mexico without prior notice to him or his immigration counsel,” his lawyers allege in a memorandum supporting their motion, both filed May 18 in the District of Massachusetts.

“Defendants did this even though O.C.G. had testified that he had been targeted and raped in Mexico,” the lawyers say.

Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.

The filing stems from a class-action lawsuit brought by immigration advocates after DHS issued new guidance authorizing the removal of certain noncitizens to “third countries” not named in their immigration proceedings, and with which they allegedly have no historical or legal ties. The plaintiffs, which include O.C.G., argue that the policy violates the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment, as well as obligations under the Convention Against Torture human rights treaty.

On Friday, the Justice Department filed a “notice of errata” saying it made “an error” in a March 25 declaration of Brian Ortega, assistant field office director for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, related to O.C.G’s removal. Ortega reported that ICE had “verbally asked O.C.G. if he was afraid of being returned to Mexico,” and that at the time O.C.G. “stated he was not afraid of returning to Mexico.” The filing noted how the government has “relied on this declaration to make corresponding statements to the court” regarding O.C.G.’s removal from the United States, and that an error with a “software tool” known as ICE’s “ENFORCE alien removal module” led to the mistake.

“Upon further investigation, defendants cannot identify any officer who asked O.C.G. whether he had a fear of return to Mexico,” the notice said. “Nor can Defendants identify the officer.”

O.C.G.’s lawyers say he left Mexico and has been “hiding in Guatemala” for roughly three months since the date of his “unlawful removal.” They believe he is entitled to immediate relief on account of the government’s admitted missteps, noting how it’s allegedly still doing nothing to bring O.C.G. back to the U.S.

“Despite defendants now acknowledging that they made misrepresentations to the Court regarding the notice provided to him and regarding his alleged statement that he had no fear of being removed to Mexico, defendants have refused to commit to immediately facilitate his return,” the attorneys say in their Sunday memorandum. They also condemn the government for allegedly revealing his identity on the public docket recently in violation of a previous court order requiring the use of a pseudonym, which they say has caused him irreparable harm as well.

“Defendants’ unlawful deportation of Plaintiff O.C.G. to Mexico without notice or an opportunity to present his fear claim to that country placed him in serious danger of irreparable harm before that harm was compounded by the disclosure of his identity,” the lawyers charge.