A 25-year-old man from Central Texas, Brian José Morales García, has been allowed to return to the United States after being wrongfully deported to Mexico following a traffic stop in April. The federal government's decision to allow his return comes after his legal team presented new evidence of his American citizenship.
Morales García was deported to Mexico despite his persistent claims of being an American citizen. He was born in Denver and grew up in Mexico, but had been living and working in Texas. During the traffic stop near Fredericksburg, officers did not believe his claims and alerted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), leading to his deportation.
Despite providing copies of his birth certificate and social security number, Morales García was deported. However, his legal team's lawsuit challenging his removal led to the discovery of additional evidence. They submitted hospital records, affidavits from witnesses, and his certified birth record from Colorado, which all supported his claim of U.S. citizenship.
The U.S. Department of Justice allowed Morales García to enter the country while his lawsuit regarding his detention and deportation proceeds. His lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, picked him up in Laredo. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and DOJ spokespersons did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lincoln-Goldfinch expressed concern over the federal government's handling of Morales García's case, stating, "Brian's case raises an alarming pattern of behavior on the part of the federal government, demonstrating that they're willing to racially profile, detain, and deport U.S. citizens." She added that the government's requirement for a high level of evidence to prove citizenship is "extremely concerning and unacceptable."
Morales García has dual citizenship in Mexico, and his Mexican identification had a different spelling of his first name and a different date of birth, which his mother attributed to a clerk's error in Mexico.
The case highlights the rarity of American citizens being wrongly deported but also the ongoing issue of potential misidentification and racial profiling in immigration enforcement. A congressional government watchdog found that between 2015 and 2020, immigration agents "arrested 674, detained 121, and removed 70 potential U.S. citizens," according to a July 2021 report.
An investigation from ProPublica found more than 170 U.S. citizens were detained by immigration agents in the first nine months of President Trump's second administration, but no one was identified as being deported.
Morales García's civil rights lawsuit in federal court remains pending. His case serves as a stark reminder of the complexities and challenges faced by individuals in the immigration system and the importance of thorough and fair legal processes.
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