Guerra-Castaneda v. United States of America

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Guerra-Castaneda v. United States of America, No. 1:22-cv-10711 (filed D. Mass. May 10, 2022) 

On May 10, 2022, the ACLU of New Hampshire along with Preti Flaherty LLP filed this lawsuit on behalf of Plaintiff Jose Daniel Guerra-Castaneda. Mr. Guerra-Castaneda is an asylum seeker from El Salvador. After his asylum and protection under the Convention Against Torture application was unsuccessful before an immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals, he sought judicial review before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.   

When the federal government attempted to deport Mr. Guerra-Castaneda to El Salvador during the judicial review, the First Circuit stopped the government’s plan and shared the court’s concerns over the likelihood of Mr. Guerra-Castaneda being tortured upon his deportation. Notwithstanding this command from the court, in September 2019, the federal government mistakenly deported Mr. Guerra-Castaneda to El Salvador, despite two federal court orders to keep him in the United States while his case for asylum was pending. 

After Plaintiff was deported, he was detained in a prison in El Salvador for 297 days where he was tortured, experienced inhumane conditions, and endured physical and emotional trauma. With the First Circuit threatening to find the U.S. Attorney General in contempt, the federal government brought Mr. Guerra-Castaneda back to the United States. After his return, Mr. Guerra-Castaneda filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government under the Federal Tort Claim Act (FTCA) seeking damages based on his unlawful deportation by the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

As a response, the federal government moved to dismiss the case based on several grounds. One of the legal grounds raised was the foreign country exception of the FTCA. The federal government argued that it could not be responsible for the imprisonment and torture Mr. Guerra-Castaneda suffered in El Salvador because they occurred outside of the United States. The District Court for the District of Massachusetts rejected the federal government’s argument on February 16, 2023, and denied Defendants’ motion. The parties advised the court that the case settled on April 5, 2024, and the court dismissed the case on April 16, 2024.

Documents:

Counsel: ACLU of New Hampshire | Preti Flaherty Beliveau & Pachios PLLP

Contact: SangYeob Kim | ACLU of New Hampshire | SangYeob@aclu-nh.org.