A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to take immediate steps to return to the United States a man who testified against people affiliated with Mexican drug cartels. The judge found that immigration authorities likely violated his constitutional due process rights when they revoked his protection from deportation and removed him to Mexico, where he has gone into hiding. In a memorandum opinion issued Friday, U.S.
District Judge Stephanie A. District Court for the District of Maryland granted a temporary restraining order requiring the government to facilitate the return of a plaintiff identified only as John Doe, who had previously received protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) because of the risk he would face if sent to Mexico. The court said an immigration judge granted Doe deferral of removal in July 2024 after finding he was more likely than not to be tortured if returned to Mexico.
According to the ruling, that determination was based on Doe's "substantial assistance" to the U.S. Department of Justice and his testimony against defendants affiliated with Mexican drug cartels. Newsweek has contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for comment, along with its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
After being released from immigration custody in November 2024 and living in Maryland under an order of supervision, Doe was returned to ICE custody during a routine check-in in January 2026 and spent six months in a Louisiana detention facility, according to court filings. Gallagher said the government removed Doe from the United States three times in recent weeks. The first removal, on July 10, sent him to Guatemala, where authorities refused to accept him because he was not a Guatemalan national.
Guatemalan officials then handed Doe over to "Mexican officials at the Mexican Consulate to be returned to Mexico," a court filing said. After learning of his CAT protections, Mexican officials also declined to accept him, and Doe was returned to the United States the same day. The opinion said immigration authorities then removed Doe a second time, around July 15 or 16, directly to Mexico.
The court said Mexican officials again refused to accept him, and he was returned to the United States. On July 21, the government served Doe with a notice terminating his CAT protections based on diplomatic assurances it said the Mexican government had provided. According to the ruling, the notice said senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and acting ICE Director David Venturella, had determined those assurances were reliable.
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