A federal judge in Massachusetts just threw a curveball at the Trump administration, ordering them to bring back a deported Guatemalan man for a fair shake at due process.
The Washington Examiner reported that Judge Brian Murphy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that the administration must facilitate the return of a man identified as "O.C.G." after they sent him packing to Mexico without properly addressing his claims of persecution.
This story starts with O.C.G., a Guatemalan national who had already secured a withholding of removal from his home country, meaning he had legal grounds to avoid being sent back there.
Despite voicing serious fears of harm in Mexico—where he alleges he was raped and held hostage—the Trump administration deported him there anyway. After the deportation, O.C.G. was given a choice: stay in Mexico or return to Guatemala, and he opted for the latter, where he now lives in hiding.
He claims to be gripped by terror of his past attackers, unable to step outside, unable to trust local police, and even cut off from seeing his own mother out of fear of endangering her.
As reported by his legal team, O.C.G. describes his existence as "living in constant fear," trapped by the ghosts of past violence and a lack of protection.
Now, let’s unpack that quote—while it’s heartbreaking to hear of anyone living in such dread, shouldn’t the system prioritize thorough vetting over rushed deportations to ensure we’re not sending folks into harm’s way?
Judge Murphy certainly thinks so, and his ruling last Friday didn’t mince words, demanding the administration bring O.C.G. back to the U.S. to properly address his persecution claims for both Guatemala and Mexico.
The judge put it bluntly: "The return of O.C.G. poses a vanishingly small cost to make sure we can still claim to live up to that ideal."
Translation? Rules matter, and bending them for expediency’s sake undermines the very fairness conservatives champion against the progressive push for open borders.
This case isn’t an isolated incident—it’s part of a broader legal skirmish over deportation policies under the Trump administration, including a parallel fight involving a Salvadoran national named Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Garcia, identified as an alleged MS-13 gang member, has also been ordered to be returned to the U.S. for further proceedings, though neither the American nor Salvadoran governments have complied as the court battle drags on.
Here’s the rub: while conservatives like myself back strong border enforcement, these cases remind us that due process isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the backbone of a system that keeps us from sliding into the chaos of arbitrary power that the left often ignores with their feel-good policies.
Turns out, actions have consequences, and deporting someone without a proper hearing can boomerang right back to the courtroom, costing time and taxpayer dollars—hardly the "winning" we’re after.