Lawyers seek to force Trump to return Guatemalan deportee
Source: Reuters
May 19, 2025 8:40 PM EDT Updated 10 hours ago
BOSTON, May 19 (Reuters) - Lawyers for a Guatemalan man who says he was deported to Mexico despite his fears he would be persecuted there have asked a judge to order the Trump administration to facilitate his return immediately after officials acknowledged making a mistake in his case.
The attorneys made the request on Sunday after the Justice Department notified a federal judge in Boston that its claim that the man had expressly stated he was not afraid of being sent to Mexico was based on erroneous information. The Justice Department in a filing on Friday said that upon further investigation, officials had been unable to identify any officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who actually asked the man about fears he had for his safety.
Lawyers for the man, identified in court papers only as "O.C.G.," told U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy that despite admitting to that error, the administration is refusing to commit to allowing the man to return to the U.S. immediately. They urged the judge to order the government to do so, given that Murphy, in a class action lawsuit O.C.G. and other migrants filed, has already blocked the administration from swiftly deporting migrants to countries other than their own without first hearing their concerns about their safety.
Lawyers for O.C.G. say that once he was in Mexico, O.C.G. had to choose between waiting months in detention to apply for asylum in Mexico or returning to Guatemala. He ultimately opted to go back to Guatemala, where he is in hiding, his lawyers say. Defendants' admitted failure to provide O.C.G. even an oral opportunity to assert his fear is flatly contrary to their own repeated representations to the Supreme Court regarding what due process requires in a situation like this," the lawyers wrote. In an order on Monday, Murphy, an appointee of President Donald Trump's Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, said he would consider the matter during a hearing on Wednesday.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/lawyers-seek-force-trump-return-guatemalan-deportee-2025-05-19/
Link to FILING (PDF) - https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/myvmjlkxxpr/05192025ocg_motion.pdf
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