Trump admin actually agrees to return wrongly deported man, but still abandons Abrego Garcia in hell prison

The Trump administration has signaled it will comply with a federal court order to facilitate the return of a wrongly deported Guatemalan man. The case involves a Guatemalan man identified in court papers as O.C.G., who fled his home country to avoid persecution based on his sexual orientation.

According to MSNBC, an immigration judge had previously barred O.C.G.’s removal to Guatemala. However, immigration agents sent him to Mexico despite his claims that he had been targeted and raped there. The government initially told the court that O.C.G. was asked whether he feared being sent to Mexico and responded no, but later admitted it had no witness to support this claim.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy ordered the government to facilitate O.C.G.’s return to the United States. The judge wrote that officials’ “retraction of their prior sworn statement makes inexorable the already-strong conclusion that O.C.G. is likely to succeed in showing that his removal lacked any semblance of due process.” O.C.G. is currently hiding in Guatemala after being sent back there from Mexico.

Government responds to court order while other cases remain unresolved

In a status report filed Wednesday, the government confirmed that immigration officials contacted O.C.G.’s lawyers over the weekend and are working to bring him back to the United States. This response stands in contrast to the administration’s handling of other similar cases, including that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was illegally deported to El Salvador and remains detained by that country’s government.

The government’s compliance in O.C.G.’s case raises questions about why other wrongly deported individuals have not received similar treatment. Another man identified as “Cristian” is also being held in El Salvador, and another judge has ordered the government to facilitate his return as well. These cases are the subject of separate ongoing litigation.

A key difference between O.C.G.’s situation and the others appears to be his current status. Judge Murphy noted in his opinion that O.C.G. “is not held by any foreign government,” while Abrego Garcia and Cristian remain detained by El Salvador at the behest of the United States. O.C.G.’s lawyers also highlighted this distinction, writing that ordering the Department of Homeland Security to facilitate return “does not include the alleged complications involved in Abrego Garcia, where the plaintiff remains detained by a foreign government at the behest of the United States.”

The Trump administration has simultaneously launched an emergency Supreme Court appeal in the broader case that Judge Murphy is overseeing, which involves removing people to third countries where they are not from. Murphy had previously intervened in the government’s attempt to send migrants to war-torn South Sudan, finding that officials sought to carry out removals without providing sufficient notice and opportunity for challenges.