A federal US judge has ordered the Trump administration to return a wrongly deported gay man.
On Friday night (24 May), US district judge Brian Murphy, a Biden appointee, ordered that a gay man who had applied for asylum in the US after suffering homophobic violence in Guatemala, be returned to the US.
The man, identified by his initials OCG, was protected from being returned to his home country under a US immigration order last year. Despite this the Trump administration reportedly “loaded” him onto a bus and sent him “back to a country where he was allegedly just raped and kidnapped.”
As reported by The Guardian, Murphy said his deportation likely “lacked any semblance of due process”.
The man, who presented evidence of being raped and held for ransom while seeking alyssum in the US, said in court that after being returned to Guatemala two months ago he has “been living in hiding, in constant panic and constant fear”.
LGBTQ+ people in Guatemala face significant legal and social challenges, despite same-sex activity being legal. The country doesn’t recognise key rights such as gender identity or marriage equality, and its predominantly conservative politics are shaped by anti-gender ideologies.
Earlier proceedings had determined OCG risked persecution or torture if returned to Guatemala, but he also feared returning to Mexico.
Judge rules in favour of OCG
Murphy wrote in his order: “No one has ever suggested that OCG poses any sort of security threat.
“In general, this case presents no special facts or legal circumstances, only the banal horror of a man being wrongfully loaded onto a bus and sent back to a country where he was allegedly just raped and kidnapped.”
He added: “The Court notes that ‘facilitate’ in this context should carry less baggage than in several other notable cases.
“OCG is not held by any foreign government. Defendants have declined to make any argument that facilitating his return would be costly, burdensome, or otherwise impede the government’s objectives.”
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