The Trump administration appears to be complying with at least one court order to facilitate the return of a wrongfully deported immigrant. And that is good news, because so far, when it comes to the courts [00:00:15] weighing in on Trump's decision to unlawfully deport people, he's less willing to bring those who are wrongfully deported back to the United States. And we're going to get to those cases in just a minute. But let's start off with some good news for once. Okay. So, basically what happened to the immigrant who was wrongfully deported [00:00:36] was that he came to the United States, came to the southern border. But during his travels to the US, he faced sexual violence. And I want to just kind of give you a trigger warning. If you've been a victim of sexual violence or you have a difficult time hearing details about that kind of stuff, because I know how hard that can be. [00:00:55] But with that out of the way, the immigrant is a gay Guatemalan, who is only referred to in court documents as O. G. So he was the victim of sexual violence and kidnaping, specifically in Mexico, as he was making his way to the southern border. [00:01:12] So immigration officials initially claimed that he wanted to be sent back to Mexico. He's Guatemalan, by the way. But later they admitted in court documents that their claim was based on erroneous information. [00:01:27] And the judge was not happy about that. We'll get to his statement in just a minute. Now, federal immigration authorities failed to screen this immigrant for a credible fear assessment before deporting him back to the same country where he was raped and held for ransom. [00:01:46] This is how many of these stories have we covered now, where the administration doesn't even bother to go through proper protocol and then they wrongfully, unlawfully deport people and then admit it, by the way. [00:02:02] In court documents. Now, what makes this story different is it appears that the Department of Homeland Security and the Trump administration is willing to not only just admit that they wrongfully deported this man, but it looks like they're willing to listen to what District Judge Brian Murphy [00:02:20] ordered the administration to do. He ordered that they facilitate his return to the United States. And the judge wrote that in general, this case presents no special facts or legal circumstances, only the banal horror of a man being wrongfully loaded onto a bus [00:02:37] and sent back to a country where he was allegedly just raped and kidnaped. Now, he was also irritated at the lies about this case from the Trump administration initially, including the claim that the man who's from Guatemala [00:02:52] wanted to be sent back to Mexico. He did not. And so once the, You know, Trump side of this equation was willing to admit that they were wrong. That was based on erroneous information. The judge let him have it. He says, how was this mistake made? [00:03:11] Murphy asked government lawyers during a hearing last week. It is a big deal to lie to a court under oath. It is an extraordinary, extraordinarily big deal to do so when there are matters of national importance at stake. I take this extremely seriously. [00:03:29] So on Wednesday of this week, officials with the Department of Homeland Security actually began preparations to return back to the United States. So, look, we've been very harsh toward the Trump administration for their unwillingness to facilitate the return of others that they wrongfully deported. [00:03:48] But in this case, it appears so far they could change their minds. But so far, it appears they're doing the right thing. And for that, they deserve positive reinforcement. Because, look, law and order does matter. Okay? And it shouldn't just apply to ordinary civilians in the United States. [00:04:06] It should apply to everyone. So if the Trump administration and its lawyers are willing to admit in official court filings that they wrongfully accidentally deported someone, well, they should right that wrong. And in this case, at least, it seems like they're willing to do that. [00:04:23] So the Trump administration could also potentially release this man from custody for humanitarian reasons. So rather than bringing him back to the United States and keeping him detained, they might just let him go entirely, [00:04:38] which I think is probably the right thing to do, because it appears that he had a legitimate asylum claim. So a flight crew in Phoenix is working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement's air division to put him on a charter flight, and that's according to court filings. And Ocg's case is part of this wider class action lawsuit [00:04:57] targeting the administration's so-called third country removals. So that means when, let's say you have a Guatemalan immigrant, Mexican immigrant, whatever immigrant from anywhere. And rather than deporting them back to their country of origin [00:05:13] where they're actually from, the Trump administration will send them to a terrible prison in El Salvador. So obviously there's lawsuits in regard to that act. And so, you know, Judge Murphy's decision is now the third time [00:05:29] the Trump administration has been ordered to return wrongfully deported immigrants. It's just that this is literally the first time that it appears the Trump administration is willing to comply with the court orders. So the independent reports. The independent reports that last month, the Trump appointed federal judge, [00:05:47] a Trump appointed federal judge, found that the government's removal of a 20 year old Venezuelan man named in court documents as, Christian, violated a court settlement intended to protect young immigrants who have pending asylum cases, and even the Supreme Court has gotten [00:06:04] involved, as I mentioned earlier. And they unanimously meaning all of them agreed that the Trump administration illegally deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador and that he must facilitate Abrego Garcia's return to the United States. [00:06:20] Now, more than a month after the highest court's decision, though, the Trump administration has yet to facilitate his return and is engaged in a tense legal battle to avoid answering what steps, if any, it is taking to bring him back, and arguing that the administration [00:06:37] does not need to answer questions from a federal judge about its arrangement with El Salvador. Well, they're wrong about that. If they value our Constitution, our system of government, they absolutely do have to answer questions from a federal judge because we don't live in a monarchy. [00:06:54] We don't have a king. We have a system of checks and balances, and our judicial system is an important part of that system of checks and balances. And look, that goes back to the whole point that Trump's defenders are making about the judicial branch and how, oh, this is overreach by the judicial branch. [00:07:14] I get the frustration about how the way our government is set up does kind of hinder some of what the executive branch wants to do. But I think it's important to have those brakes on the car, even when you know, that very system of government stands in the way of the left getting [00:07:33] some of what they want policy wise. And it's because you don't want too much power concentrated with one government agency or one branch of the government. And you want to make sure that there is a path forward to right the wrongs of an [00:07:48] administration when they, I don't know, wrongfully deport someone to a third country that they're not even from. Because think about it, if they don't even bother to ask questions or investigate the specific people they're deporting. [00:08:05] I mean, they could just deport American citizens accidentally. And then what? No due process. It's crazy. You don't want that. And while the right thinks they want it, they don't want that. Because if the tables were turned and it were a Democratic president doing something similar, they'd be up in arms about it [00:08:23] and they should be up in arms about it. It's just really, really shameful that they're not up in arms about the overreach of the Trump administration in regard to stripping people of due process and sending them to third countries. They're not even from like, what what kind of country do you want to be? [00:08:39] And I hope the answer is not the kind of country that just wipes its ass with its whole whole system of checks and balances, and allows the executive branch to do as it pleases unilaterally. Every time you ring the bell below, an angel gets his wings. [00:08:54] Totally not true, but it does keep you updated on our live shows.