Trump Admin Forced to Repatriate Wrongfully Deported Asylum Seeker After Court Order

In a major setback for Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, the administration has been compelled to return a Guatemalan asylum seeker to the United States after he was wrongfully deported to Mexico—a highly unusual instance of the White House complying with a federal court order to reverse an unlawful removal.

The case could set a powerful precedent.

The individual, identified in legal proceedings by the pseudonym "O.C.G.," was brought back to the U.S. on Wednesday. He is now in ICE custody and is receiving support from a legal team challenging what they describe as unconstitutional and inhumane deportation practices by the Trump administration.

O.C.G. initially sought asylum in 2024 after enduring several violent attacks in Guatemala. On his journey to the United States, he was raped and held for ransom in Mexico—circumstances that should have disqualified Mexico as a safe destination for removal.

Despite a 2025 court ruling that barred his deportation to Guatemala, O.C.G. was first expelled to Mexico and then sent to Guatemala in defiance of the judge’s order. There, he lived in hiding, gripped by fear for his life.

According to O.C.G., he was never given a chance to explain his fear of being sent to Mexico before his deportation. The Trump administration falsely asserted that he had expressed no such fear. That claim was later retracted when officials failed to produce any evidence or testimony to support it.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy ordered that O.C.G. be returned to the U.S., stating that the sequence of deportations violated his right to due process.

Trump’s Department of Homeland Security lashed out at the ruling, with spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin calling it the work of a "federal activist judge" and arguing—contrary to evidence—that Mexico was a "safe third country" for the asylum seeker.

While O.C.G.’s return is a significant legal and moral victory, advocates caution that this is just one case among many. The fight continues to ensure that every individual unlawfully deported under the Trump administration is located, protected, and given the due process they are owed under the law.