The Trump administration has admitted to another mistake in a high profile deportation case.
In March, a Guatemalan man, identified as O.C.G. in court papers, sued the Trump administration after they deported him to Mexico despite fears of “persecution and torture” if he was sent there.
Immigration officials said at the time that the man told them he was not afraid to be sent to Mexico. But in a court filing Friday, first reported by Politico, officials say that claim is not true.
“Upon further investigation … ICE was unable to identify an officer or officers who asked O.C.G. if he feared a return to Mexico,” Brian Ortega, assistant field office director for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations said in a sworn statement to the federal judge overseeing the lawsuit.
ICE officials are blaming the latest screwup on “ENFORCE alien removal module” a software tool used to track individual deportation cases. It allows staff to insert any relevant information into each case record.
O.C.G said he fled Guatemala in April 2024 to escape persecution. While traveling through Mexico, he was targeted for being gay, raped and held captive until his sister paid a ransom.
An American judge granted him withholding of removal to Guatemala in February 2025 after finding his fear of persecution to be legitimate. But he was deported to Mexico without notice under the Trump administration’s new ‘third country’ policy.
The policy involves sending an immigrant to an alternate country if their home country won’t accept them.
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy blocked deportations under the ‘third country’ policy, ruling that individuals deported under the policy has a right to raise concerns about their safety.
Murphy specifically cited O.C.G’s case and the administration’s claim that he told ICE he did not fear being sent to Mexico. The judge said it was based on hearsay. Murphy did not order the administration to bring back O.C.G in the ruling. Instead he ordered more investigation of the claim which led to the revelation in Friday’s filing.
The Trump administration has admitted to errors in the past in their deportation effort.
The administration acknowledged that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man with protected legal status, was sent to an El Salvadoran megaprison in error. But, the administration has ignored rulings, including a 9-0 SCOTUS ruling, to “facilitate” his return.
Instead, Trump administration officials have accused Abrego Garcia of being affiliated with the gang MS-13. They have provided no evidence to support their claims and Abrego Garcia has no criminal convictions in the U.S.
