Judge Orders the Return of a Cartel Witness Deported to Mexico Three Times After Officials Stripped His Torture Protection

U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher of Maryland issued a memorandum opinion Friday granting a temporary restraining order that requires the government to facilitate the return of a man identified as John Doe, who received deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture in July 2024 after an immigration judge found he was more likely than not to be tortured in Mexico. That finding rested on his "substantial assistance" to the Justice Department and his testimony against cartel-affiliated defendants. The government removed him three times: to Guatemala on July 10, to Mexico around July 15, and to Mexico again on Aug. 1 after serving him a July 21 notice terminating his protections based on Mexican diplomatic assurances.

Gallagher found Doe likely to succeed on his procedural due process claim, saying the termination came without adequate notice, a chance to contest the evidence, or a neutral decision-maker, and called the termination procedure "extremely rare."

Doe is in hiding in Mexico. Gallagher ordered daily status reports until his return and directed that any detention afterward be within 200 miles of Baltimore.