A federal judge has slammed the Trump administration for bungling the case of a gay Guatemalan man deported to Mexico despite grave risks to his safety — and ordered officials to bring him back to the U.S.
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, presiding in Boston, called the episode “a horror,” highlighting how the man, known only as O.C.G., was sent to Mexico even though he feared persecution there. The Justice Department admitted the error, revealing they had no evidence anyone asked O.C.G. about his safety concerns before deporting him.
This latest court intervention exposes a troubling pattern of mishandled deportations under the former administration’s hardline immigration crackdown. Murphy previously blocked swift deportations of migrants to countries other than their own without proper safety screenings, calling due process “binary” — either it happens or it doesn’t.
O.C.G., who fled Guatemala in 2024 after death threats over his sexuality, was officially granted protection by an immigration judge in February. Yet within days, he was forcibly sent to Mexico, where he had suffered kidnapping and assault.
Faced with the bleak choice of months in Mexican detention or risking a return to Guatemala, O.C.G. chose to disappear into hiding.
The ruling comes on the heels of another court finding that the Trump administration defied a judge’s order by trying to deport migrants to South Sudan.
For O.C.G. and others caught in these flawed deportation sweeps, the judge’s order signals a legal pushback against rushed removals that neglect human rights and constitutional guarantees.
Now, the fight shifts to making sure O.C.G. can safely return to the U.S. — and that mistakes like this don’t happen again.
