Overview
- Britania Uriostegui Rios was moved from a Louisiana detention center to Texas on November 11 and taken across the border to Mexico without money, medications or a phone, according to her attorneys.
- An immigration judge in March granted protection under the Convention Against Torture that barred removal to Mexico after finding she would more likely than not face torture or death there.
- In court-filed emails, a Justice Department attorney acknowledged the removal was “inadvertent” and said ICE would allow voluntary reentry, while indicating she would be taken back into custody on return.
- Government filings say ICE has tried unsuccessfully to remove her to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador, and she remains in Mexico hiding with family as lawyers cite acute safety risks for transgender people there.
- Her attorneys have sued President Donald Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other officials alleging legal violations and seeking supervised release, as DHS signals it still intends to remove her to a third country.