ICE Deports Mexicans a Court Had Barred From Removal, Citing Mexico’s Assurance They Will Not Be Tortured

The administration deported a group of Mexican nationals in early August who had been barred from removal after proving to an immigration court that they would likely face torture in Mexico, two people familiar with the removals told The New York Times. ICE reversed the protections by citing diplomatic assurances from the Mexican government that the deportees would not be harmed. The number removed has not been made public.

Deferral and withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture follow a judge’s finding of a specific likelihood of torture. Undoing that on a general assurance from the receiving government moves the safeguard from a judicial determination to an executive one, without a new hearing, and such assurances are ordinarily not published.

The removals were reported Aug. 7 and have not been confirmed on the record by DHS or ICE. No court has ruled on them.