DOJ: Trump officials working to return deported Guatemalan man to U.S.
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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday in Jasionka, Poland. Photo: Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The Trump administration is working to fly a deported immigrant from Guatemala back to the U.S. in compliance with a judge's order, per a Department of Justice court filing on Wednesday evening.
Why it matters: The action contrasts with the administration's defiance of other immigration-related court orders — including ones made by the same federal judge overseeing the Guatemalan man's case and the erroneous deportation of Maryland man Kilmar Armando Ábrego García.
State of play: U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy last week ordered the return of the gay Guatemalan man, publicly identified only as O.C.G., so he can undergo proper due process.
- His attorneys said he was deported to Mexico, where he had previously been raped, before going into hiding in Guatemala after being sent there.
- The government previously said O.C.G. stated he wasn't afraid to return to Mexico, despite the violence he'd experienced, but later admitted an "error" had been made in the matter.
- Attorneys for the DOJ said in the filing to the Massachusetts-based federal judge that officials were "working with ICE Air to bring O.C.G. back" to the U.S. on a charter flight.
Zoom out: Murphy has ruled against the Trump administration in other immigration cases, with the judge finding that the deportation of immigrants to South Sudan violated his earlier order on sending people to countries they're not citizens of.
- The administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Murphy's order that blocks the government from sending undocumented immigrants to third countries.
What they're saying: When asked for comment on the matter, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin in an emailed comment repeated the words in a DHS X post over the weekend that called Murphy an "activist judge" after Murphy's ruling on O.C.G.
- The statement maintained that removing him to Mexico was a safe third option for him, pending his asylum claim.
- "America's asylum system was never intended to be used as a de facto amnesty program or a catch-all, get-out-of-deportation-free card," per the statement.
Go deeper: Scoop: Stephen Miller, Noem tell ICE to supercharge immigrant arrests
