A federal judge ordered the administration to return the man, who is now in Guatemala, to the United States for due process last week, saying the administration did not give him a sufficient opportunity to express his concern over being deported to Mexico.
Attorneys for the government wrote in a Wednesday U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts court filing that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement made contact with O.C.G.’s attorneys over the weekend and that a “Significant Public Benefit Parole” packet has been approved and forwarded to Homeland Security Investigations for approval.
Additionally, the Phoenix ICE field office is working with ICE Air to bring O.C.G. back to the U.S. on a flight, the filing concluded.
O.C.G. first entered the U.S. “without proper authorization” in March 2024, when he was then deported back to Guatemala. He tried to enter the U.S. again in April of that year but claims he “was raped and held hostage until a family member paid ransom.” The man then tried for a third time to enter the U.S. and was caught again but was assigned an asylum officer who found that he had a reasonable fear of persecution if sent back to Guatemala.
An immigration judge granted a withholding of removal from Guatemala, but O.C.G. was sent to Mexico, where he was then given the option to stay or return to Guatemala.
The man expressed fear of returning to Mexico because of the crimes he suffered there. The deported man, who chose to return to Guatemala, 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.”
The judge, Brian Murphy, said the “return of O.C.G. poses a vanishingly small cost” to live up to an ideal of “living in a country where rules are followed.”
“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 PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES WITH TRUMP’S MASS DEPORTATION PLAN
Salvadoran national and alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported from Maryland to El Salvador controversially, with critics of the administration saying he was also never offered due process.
He remains in El Salvador, though several Democratic congressional members have tried to speak with him with varying levels of success.
