'Software Glitch' ... Trump administration acknowledges error in high-profile deportation case after being sued

In a an ongoing legal battle over deportation, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reportedly acknowledged that a key claim it made in response to a lawsuit filed by a Guatemalan man deported to Mexico was based on erroneous information. According to a report in Politico, the admission came in a recent court filing, casting doubt on the Trump administration's defense in a high-stakes class action lawsuit challenging its deportation practices. The lawsuit was filed in March by a Guatemalan man identified in court documents only as O.C.G., who argued he was wrongly deported to Mexico despite expressing fears of persecution there. In its initial response, the Trump administration asserted that O.C.G. himself had stated he was not afraid to be sent to Mexico.

Immigration authority calls it Software error
However, ICE, as per the report, has now retracted this claim. In a sworn statement submitted to the federal judge overseeing the case, Brian Ortega, assistant field office director for ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations, stated that "Upon further investigation ... ICE was unable to identify an officer or officers who asked O.C.G. if he feared a return to Mexico." The agency attributed the error to a "software tool" known as ICE's " ENFORCE alien removal module ," which is used to track deportation cases and allows staff to input comments.

The US District Judge Brian Murphy , a Biden appointee based in Massachusetts, previously cited the disputed claim as a reason for not immediately ordering O.C.G.'s return from Mexico. Instead, Judge Murphy reportedly ordered expedited fact-finding, which ultimately led to ICE's admission of the error.

The judge noted last month that the discrepancy surrounding O.C.G.'s alleged statement was a significant factor in his decision not to grant immediate relief. This admission, Politico report claims, marks the latest in a series of instances where federal judges have faulted the Trump administration's aggressive deportation efforts for lacking due process. Similar errors have surfaced in other cases, including that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man wrongly deported despite a court order, and Daniel Lozano-Camargo, a Venezuelan man deported to El Salvador in violation of a settlement agreement.

What is OCG case
O.C.G.'s case is part of a broader legal challenge to the administration's policy of relying on "third countries" for deportation. This policy allows authorities to deport immigrants to countries other than their home country if their home country refuses to accept them or if the immigrant has a legitimate fear of returning.

The recent admission by ICE is likely to have significant implications for the ongoing lawsuit and further fuels concerns about the accuracy and due process within the U.S. immigration enforcement system under the previous administration.