US deports witness against Mexican drug cartel three times—twice to Mexico

A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of a man identified as John Doe, who testified against people tied to Mexican drug cartels and had been granted deferral of removal in 2024 under the Convention Against Torture. Judge Stephanie Gallagher found immigration authorities likely violated his due process rights when they terminated that protection and deported him.

Court records show the government tried to deport Doe three times in recent weeks: once to Guatemala, which refused him, and twice directly to Mexico, which also refused him — until, on August 1, Mexico accepted him without his phone or belongings. The termination notice cited unspecified diplomatic assurances from Mexico, endorsed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and acting ICE Director David Venturella, but contained no details on those assurances and was apparently never translated into Spanish for Doe, who doesn't read English.

The judge called the termination procedure 'extremely rare' and ordered the government to actively facilitate his return, file daily status reports, and if he's detained again, keep him within 200 miles of Baltimore. Doe has remained in hiding in Mexico, fearing retaliation from the cartel figures he helped prosecute.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.