Alleged Wrongful Deportation of Ernesto Zuniga Hilario

Ernesto Zuniga Hilario, a Mexican national who entered the United States without inspection around 2008, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. The filing asserts that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained him in Texas in September, held him at the T. Don Hutto detention facility in Taylor, and then placed him on a bus to an airport where he was flown to Mexico City on September 16. Zuniga Hilario’s attorneys contend that he repeatedly declined “voluntary departure” because he sought an opportunity to appear before an immigration judge, yet authorities proceeded with removal without a valid removal order or a chance to challenge the action. The petition notes that Zuniga Hilario is married to lawful permanent resident Obdulia Cervantes Vega and is the father of four U.S.-citizen children.

Newsweek

A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson rejected the due-process allegation, stating that Zuniga Hilario signed a voluntary departure form on September 6 in blue ink and left the United States on September 16. DHS characterized the claim of denied due process as false.

Newsweek

The case arrives amid heightened scrutiny of alleged wrongful removals under the Trump administration’s mass-deportation policies. Federal judges have increasingly confronted the Department of Homeland Security over instances where individuals were deported without court orders, sometimes ordering agencies to facilitate the return of those improperly removed.

Newsweek

If the court finds that ICE lacked legal authority to deport Zuniga Hilario, the decision could reinforce procedural safeguards for non-citizens facing removal and signal limits on agency discretion absent a formal removal order. Conversely, a ruling upholding the agency’s actions would affirm the validity of voluntary-departure forms and the authority to act on them without further judicial review.

Newsweek