Government Illegal Deports Green-Card Holder And Man Can't Be Found

When a circuit court orders the government not to deport someone until the appeal is resolved, the government is not allowed to deport the person while the appeal is still being decided.

Just because deporting someone at that stage would be illegal does not mean the government follows the rules every time. Take a look at the case of Aguilar-Turcios v. Holder, which the Ninth Circuit decided on September 29, 2009.

Mr. Aguilar was ordered deported but was appealing the case and asked the circuit court to force the government to keep him in the United States until they decided his appeal. The Ninth Circuit ordered the government not to deport him while they were considering the appeal. The government mistakenly deported him to Honduras anyway. Mr. Aguilar won his appeal and the government cannot deport him. But they already did. The Ninth Circuit wrote in the decision that "To date, efforts by the government and Aguilar's counsel to locate and return Aguilar to the United States have been unsuccessful."

The government has argued that deporting someone while an appeal is ongoing is acceptable because they will supposedly facilitate the return of anyone who wins the appeal. In Mr. Aguilar's case, the government illegal deported him, violating a direct court order, and is having no success in bringing him back.