A Guatemalan man who was deported to Mexico despite expressing fear of persecution was flown back to the United States on Wednesday. A US judge ruled that the Trump administration had wrongly deported him.
The decision followed an admission by the US Department of Justice that the deportation was based on incorrect information. According to the ministry, the man had not said he was afraid of returning to Mexico, but that turned out to be incorrect.
According to his lawyers, the deported man is homosexual and fled Guatemala in 2024 after death threats because of his sexuality. Although a judge had decided that the man was entitled to protection, he was put on a bus to Mexico in February. He had previously been raped and kidnapped there.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a deported person has been brought back after a court order. Judges have previously ruled that deportations were unjustified, but this did not lead to repatriation.
Both cases underscore how the Trump administration’s strict immigration policy regularly leads to errors in individual asylum procedures. Judges are increasingly intervening to correct mistakes.