Immigrant Family Challenges DHS Deportation

Ernesto Zuniga Hilario says immigration authorities deported him to Mexico without a valid removal order, even though he repeatedly refused to leave. The removal separated him from his wife, a lawful permanent resident, and their four U.S.-citizen children. His attorneys filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, asking a federal judge to facilitate his return.

What the Petition Says

Zuniga Hilario, a Mexican national who lived in the United States for nearly two decades, says Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him in Texas in September and removed him without giving him a meaningful chance to understand or challenge the government's legal basis. He says he last entered the United States without inspection around 2008 and lived near Lometa, Texas, before his detention.

Court filings say officers apprehended him while he traveled with his family for a therapy appointment. They held him at the T. Don Hutto detention facility in Taylor, Texas. An ICE detainee-locator record that attorneys submitted as an exhibit also lists the facility as his detention location.

During detention, Zuniga Hilario alleges, officers repeatedly asked if he wanted to depart voluntarily. He says he declined because he wanted to present his case and expected to appear before an immigration judge. The petition alleges officers instead put him on a bus, took him to an airport and flew him to Mexico City without giving him a meaningful opportunity to challenge his removal. He says he didn't leave voluntarily.

DHS's Account and the Legal Dispute

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Newsweek: “Any allegation that Ernesto Zuniga Hilario didn't receive due process is FALSE. Zuniga Hilario signed his voluntary departure form on September 6 in blue ink. He left the United States and returned to Mexico on September 16. Breaking our country's laws is always a bad decision.”

DHS said ICE arrested Zuniga Hilario on September 6 after the Lampasas County Sheriff's Office conducted a traffic stop. The agency said he entered the United States illegally “at an unknown date and time by sneaking across our border on foot.” That account conflicts with the petition's claim that he repeatedly declined voluntary departure and expected to appear before a judge.

The lawsuit says authorities had no legal basis to deport him because he wasn't subject to an expedited removal order or an order issued by an immigration judge. Zuniga Hilario acknowledges previous encounters with immigration authorities but says none resulted in a removal order. His attorneys argue that if officials were reinstating an earlier order, they had to notify him and give him a chance to contest it.

The petition acknowledges a possible jurisdictional hurdle: Zuniga Hilario had already been removed when his attorneys filed the case. His attorneys argue the case differs because, they allege, the government acted without an underlying removal order and without giving him a meaningful chance to challenge the action.

A Wider Deportation Policy

The report says cases under the Trump administration's mass deportation policy have involved wrongful deportations and removals carried out in defiance of court orders. Federal judges have challenged the administration over wrongful removals and, in some cases, ordered DHS to facilitate the return of people who were improperly deported.

Newsweek said it contacted Zuniga Hilario's legal team by email on Wednesday and was awaiting a response. Newsweek's reporters and editors used Martyn, its AI assistant, to produce the story. The listed contacts were Matthew Cannon and James Debens.