Latest news with #OCG
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Trump Admin Admits to Wrongfully Deporting Another Immigrant
The Trump administration has admitted to deporting yet another immigrant in violation of a court order, making it the fourth known case since President Donald Trump's second term began. As Politico explains, Jordin Melgar-Salmeron, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, had been in immigration detention since 2022, while deportation proceedings against him were pending. On May 7, soon after a federal appeals court had ordered the government to keep Melgar-Salmeron in the country, authorities deported him back to El Salvador, a move the Trump administration is now blaming on 'a confluence of administrative errors.' The errors included missed emails and an incorrect roster of passengers on the May 7 deportation flight. Melgar-Salmeron's case is similar to several others, including that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported to El Salvador in contravention of a court order in March, and a Guatemalan man known as O.C.G., who was deported to Mexico despite fears of persecution. Earlier this month, the Trump administration admitted that O.C.G.'s deportation was an accident and the result of an error in the software used to track deportations. ICE initially claimed that O.C.G. had told officers he wasn't afraid of being sent to Mexico, but later retracted those assertions. A third man, Daniel Lozano-Camargo, was also wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March despite there being a legal settlement in place barring his deportation. Melgar-Salmeron, a longtime resident of Virginia, was placed in immigration detention in 2022 after serving a prison sentence for possessing an unregistered shotgun. In January 2024, his immigration proceedings were put on hold by the Biden administration amid litigation over immigration policy. In April, the Trump administration sought to lift that hold, asking the New York 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal to expedite Melgar-Salmeron's appeal and indicating it wanted to deport him by May 9 'at the latest,' assuring the court it would not act before May 8. Despite those assurances, less than half an hour after a May 7 order from the court that Melgar-Salmeron be kept in the U.S., he was loaded onto a plane and deported to El Salvador, where he now sits in prison. In response to the court's questions about the deportation, Justice Department attorney Kitty Lees explained that 'several inadvertent administrative oversights' led to Melgar-Salmeron's removal. Those oversights included different ICE offices listing different dates for Melgar-Salmeron's deportation, an email flagging his deportation not being forwarded to the ICE officer overseeing his case, and confusion over his inclusion on the flight manifest following an initial failure to appear for boarding. Of the four people wrongfully deported in recent months, two—Abrego Garcia and Lozano-Camargo—remain in detention in El Salvador. In the case of O.C.G., the Trump administration says it has taken steps to arrange a flight for him to be returned to the U.S. from Mexico following a court order that the government work to facilitate his return.
CBS News
3 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Trump administration says it will fly migrant back to U.S. after judge rules his deportation "ignored" due process
The federal government is working to secure a charter flight to return a man who was removed from the U.S. back to America so he can have proper due process proceedings, the Justice Department said in court documents filed Wednesday. Last week, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy ordered the man, only known by the initials O.C.G., to be returned to the United States after he found that necessary due process steps in his removal proceedings were "ignored" by the Trump administration. O.C.G.'s attorneys argued that he has no criminal history and sought asylum in the United States after multiple violent attacks against him in his native country of Guatemala. In March 2024, O.C.G. entered the United States illegally and was deported. After making it back to the United States again last year, he presented himself to Border Patrol for asylum proceedings. An immigration judge found in February 2025 that O.C.G. would face serious harm if he were sent back to Guatemala and ordered a "withholding of removal" that barred deportation back to his home country. Two days after the immigration judge's February decision, O.C.G. says he was placed on a bus and removed without due process to Mexico, where his attorneys said he was previously held for random and raped during his second attempt to get to the United States. He submitted evidence at his immigration hearing of his experiences in Mexico, and as a result the immigration judge said that O.C.G. could not be removed to a country other than Guatemala without additional due process. After O.C.G. was sent to Mexico by the United States, Mexican authorities removed him to Guatemala, where he remains in hiding, according to court documents. "[The] immigration judge told O.C.G.— consistent with this Court's understanding of the law—that he could not be removed to a country other than his native Guatemala, at least not without some additional steps in the process," Murphy wrote in his order last week. "Those necessary steps, and O.C.G.'s pleas for help, were ignored." Murphy had previously ordered additional fact finding in the case, after the Trump administration submitted a declaration under oath that O.C.G. told government officials that he had no fear of being sent to Mexico. O.C.G had previously submitted a declaration to the court stating that he was told at the last minute before his removal that he was being sent to Mexico, and that he was denied a request to speak to his attorneys beforehand. The Justice Department admitted to Murphy that there was no witness who could verify the government's account of O.C.G.'s removal under oath and the declaration was made in error. "The only evidence before the Court therefore is O.C.G.'s uncontroverted assertion that he was given no notice of his transfer to Mexico and no opportunity to explain why it would be dangerous to send him there," Murphy wrote in his order mandating the man's return. "Defendants' 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," the judge added. The Trump administration's push to ramp up deportations has drawn other scrutiny from other federal judges who argue deportees aren't being given enough due process. Another judge ordered the Trump administration to "facilitate" the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who the government admitted was sent to El Salvador in error. The Supreme Court affirmed that ruling, but Abrego Garcia remains in a Salvadoran prison, and the Trump administration says it's up to that country's government to return him.
Irish Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
'Mr. Fishy' terrorised family during home invasion while out on bail
A violent offender who provided the getaway cars used by an organised crime gang in the attempted murder of Dublin criminal Gary Carey went on to terrorise a family during a home invasion while out on bail, a court has heard. Lawyers for Patrick Fitzgerald (48) – who is known as 'Mr Fishy' - asked the Central Criminal Court on Monday to consider the issue of totality when passing sentence, so as to ensure his prison term will not be "intolerable". Fitzgerald was initially charged with the attempted murder of Mr Carey (35) at Ballyfermot Crescent, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10 on November 17, 2021 but earlier this month pleaded guilty to facilitating a criminal organisation. The court heard today that Fitzgerald, who has 72 previous convictions, had issues with drug addiction in the past and had been a 'habitual user of cocaine'. Last February he was jailed for seven and a half years after a court heard he was part of a gang that invaded a family home in the early morning, terrorising a couple in their 70s, their daughter and a six-year-old child. Mr Carey survived the attack on his life but was subsequently fatally injured in a separate shooting seven months later. In Victim Impact Statements read to the court today on their behalf, Mr Carey's family said they had been left 'devastated' by the attempt on his life. 'In one moment, these people changed our lives forever,' his daughters Shauna and Shanice said. At a sentencing hearing on Monday, Det Sgt Ronan McDermott from Ballyfermot Garda Station told prosecuting senior counsel Ronan Kennedy that on the evening of November 17, 2021 Mr Carey was in the company of an associate at a house in Ballyfermot Crescent in Dublin. At around 7.30pm, Mr Carey left the property and got into his car but as he attempted to leave the driveway his path was blocked by a black Opel Zafira with two unidentified occupants on board. Ten shots were fired from the Zafira into the windscreen of Mr Carey's car and he sustained two gunshot wounds to his torso. The victim managed to exit the vehicle, run back through the house and climb over a wall in the rear garden of another property where he remained until gardaí and ambulance crew arrived. He was brought to St Jame's Hospital where he underwent surgery and remained in hospital until November 21. Having survived the attempt on his life, Mr Carey relocated his family to Spain where he lived for a period of time, the court heard. Following his return to Ireland there was another attempt on his life on June 24, 2022 and he died from his injuries on August 5 that year. Det Sgt McDermott confirmed to counsel that Mr Carey was known to gardai and it was believed he had 'fallen foul' of an Organised Crime Group (OCG) based in Ballyfermot who were involved in the large-scale sale, supply and distribution of drugs and serious firearm activity. The court heard that after the shooting in November 2021, the Zafira fled in the direction of Ballyfermot parade, where it was burned out. The two shooters then drove off in a gold Toyota Avensis which had been parked up at this location as a second getaway vehicle. This vehicle was subsequently found burned out in Finglas. Det Sgt McDermott said that the Zafira had been purchased through Done Deal and the seller told gardaí that the man who bought the car had arrived in a blue Audi A4. The phone used to purchase the vehicle was subsequently attributed to the defendant by gardaí. Mr Kennedy said the gold Toyota Avensis was also purchased through Done Deal and the number used to make the purchase was the same number attributed to Mr Fitzgerald. The following day, CCTV showed Fitzgerald filling up two Jerry cans at a petrol station and subsequently filling the Avensis with the fuel. Shortly after 10.30pm on the night of the shooting, the court heard CCTV footage shows Fitzgerald getting out of a taxi and into the Avensis, which is then driven away and is burned out in a laneway near the Willow's Pub in Finglas. Mr Kennedy said the defendant was involved in the purchase and storage of the cars and this was corroborated by CCTV and phone evidence. The defendant was arrested on December 17 that year and exercised his right to silence during the course of ten interviews. Det Sgt McDermott confirmed that the shooting was carried out by the crime group, who are based in Ballyfermot and are involved in the sale, supply and distribution of drugs both nationally and internationally. The group are also involved in serious firearm activity up to and including murder, the court heard. The Det Sgt also agreed with Mr Kennedy that Fitzgerald is known as 'Mr Fishy' and has a partner and four children. He said the defendant has 72 previous convictions, including aggravated burglary, false imprisonment, assault causing harm, theft, violent disorder and numerous road traffic offences. Det Sgt McDermott said Fitzgerald was sentenced to seven and a half years imprisonment in February this year in relation to the aggravated burglary, which took place in August 2023. Fitzgerald was on bail for this offence when the aggravated burglary occurred. Mr Kennedy told the court that the maximum sentence for an offence of this type is 15 years. Bernard Condon SC, representing Fitzgerald, said this would have been a complex case involving significant amounts of technical evidence. He said there was no doubt the plea of guilty was of value to the prosecution. He said his client had difficulties with drugs in the past and was brought up by his sister after both his parents died when he was a teenager. Counsel said Fitzgerald worked as a pot washer for a while before he 'began to drift' and his difficulties with drugs began in his late Condon said Fitzgerald became a 'habitual user of cocaine' and he struggled with this addiction until 2014, when he got clean and 'life went well' for a period before he relapsed in said Fitzgerald has been doing in prison and was attempting to turn his life Condon said there was no statutory requirement for the court to make the sentence consecutive to the term Fitzgerald is already serving. However, he said if the court did plan to go down this route, he asked that it consider the issue of totality. 'I would ask the court to substantially deduct from whatever the sentence is so the final sentence would not be intolerable,' he said. Ms Justice Eileen Creedon adjourned the matter to July with an address at Glenties Park in Finglas, Dublin 11, pleaded guilty that between November 11 2021 and November 18 2021, both dates inclusive, in the State, with knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation, did participate in or contribute to activities intending to facilitate the commission by the said criminal organisation of a serious a Victim Impact Statement read to the court by Mr Kennedy on her behalf, Mr Carey's partner Nicola Doonan said her family had been 'torn apart' by the shooting and had to move from their home for their own a joint statement which was also read to the court by Mr Kennedy on their behalf, Mr Carey's daughters Shanice and Shauna Hennessey said their family had been left 'devastated' by what said those involved in the attempt on their father's life had 'gouged a hole' that would never heal.'In one moment, these people changed our lives forever,' they Carey's daughters said they now have 'pain' and 'harm' where once there was 'love and protection', adding the 'nightmares and endless tears' haven't stopped.'From that night we lost our sense of community as we no longer felt safe anywhere,' Shanice and Shauna said. 'We got nervous when cars pulled up with tinted windows…worrying will these criminals come back? Will they hurt us?'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
US judge orders Trump administration to return wrongly deported gay man
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration late Friday night to facilitate the return of a Guatemalan man it deported to Mexico, in spite of his fears of being harmed there, and who has since been returned to Guatemala. The man, who is gay, had applied for asylum in the US last year after he was attacked twice in homophobic acts of violence in Guatemala. He was protected from being returned to his home country under a US immigration judge's order at the time, but the Trump administration put him on a bus and sent him to Mexico instead. The US district judge Brian Murphy found the man's deportation likely 'lacked any semblance of due process'. In a declaration to the court, the man, identified by his initials OCG in legal filings, said that since he was returned to Guatemala two months ago, 'I have been living in hiding, in constant panic and constant fear'. An earlier court proceeding determined that OCG risked persecution or torture if returned to Guatemala, but he also feared returning to Mexico. He presented evidence of being raped and held for ransom there while seeking asylum in the US. 'No one has ever suggested that OCG poses any sort of security threat,' Murphy wrote in his order. '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.' Murphy's order adds to a string of findings by federal courts against recent Trump administration deportations. Last week, Murphy, a Biden appointee, found that the Trump administration had violated an order he issued barring government officials from deporting people to countries not their own without first giving them sufficient time to object. In a hearing, the homeland security department said that seven immigrants had been deported Tuesday on a flight to a third country, but they refused to say where the men were going. It was later revealed that the men were told they were being sent to South Sudan. Related: Arizona governor pauses deportation for Guatemalan who gave birth days ago In that case, Murphy said that the government had given the seven men little more than 24 hours' notice that they were being removed from the US, which he called 'plainly insufficient', and could result in a finding of criminal contempt. Other cases that have been spotlighted for rapid deportations include that of Kilmar Ábrego García, who was sent to El Salvador. The US supreme court ordered the government to 'facilitate' Ábrego García's return, but the White House has said it is not within its power to do so. That case sparked a legal joust over the supreme court's practicable meaning of 'facilitate'. In his ruling, Murphy noted the dispute over the use of the verb, saying that returning OCG to the US is not that complicated. 'The Court notes that 'facilitate' in this context should carry less baggage than in several other notable cases,' he wrote. '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.' The Associated Press contributed reporting
Business Mayor
6 days ago
- Politics
- Business Mayor
US judge orders Trump administration to return wrongly deported gay man
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration late Friday night to facilitate the return of a Guatemalan man it deported to Mexico, in spite of his fears of being harmed there, and who has since been returned to Guatemala. The man, who is gay, had applied for asylum in the US last year after he was attacked twice in homophobic acts of violence in Guatemala. He was protected from being returned to his home country under a US immigration judge's order at the time, but the Trump administration put him on a bus and sent him to Mexico instead. The US district judge Brian Murphy found the man's deportation likely 'lacked any semblance of due process'. In a declaration to the court, the man, identified by his initials OCG in legal filings, said that since he was returned to Guatemala two months ago, 'I have been living in hiding, in constant panic and constant fear'. An earlier court proceeding determined that OCG risked persecution or torture if returned to Guatemala, but he also feared returning to Mexico. He presented evidence of being raped and held for ransom there while seeking asylum in the US. 'No one has ever suggested that OCG poses any sort of security threat,' Murphy wrote in his order. '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.' Murphy's order adds to a string of findings by federal courts against recent Trump administration deportations. Last week, Murphy, a Biden appointee, found that the Trump administration had violated an order he issued barring government officials from deporting people to countries not their own without first giving them sufficient time to object. In a hearing, the homeland security department said that seven immigrants had been deported Tuesday on a flight to a third country, but they refused to say where the men were going. It was later revealed that the men were told they were being sent to South Sudan. In that case, Murphy said that the government had given the seven men little more than 24 hours' notice that they were being removed from the US, which he called 'plainly insufficient', and could result in a finding of criminal contempt. Other cases that have been spotlighted for rapid deportations include that of Kilmar Ábrego García, who was sent to El Salvador. The US supreme court ordered the government to 'facilitate' Ábrego García's return, but the White House has said it is not within its power to do so. That case sparked a legal joust over the supreme court's practicable meaning of 'facilitate'. In his ruling, Murphy noted the dispute over the use of the verb, saying that returning OCG to the US is not that complicated. 'The Court notes that 'facilitate' in this context should carry less baggage than in several other notable cases,' he wrote. '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.'
