A federal appeals court on Tuesday dismissed a petition from a Salvadoran citizen seeking protection under the Convention Against Torture, ruling that his case became moot once immigration authorities deported him back to El Salvador, where local police immediately detained him.
The precedential ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit determined that federal judges have no legal power to grant relief to Jose Ramiro Mejia-Henriquez. Writing for the court, Circuit Judge Thomas Hardiman stated that because Mejia-Henriquez was already removed from the country, “there is no longer a removal to defer” and “his return is exceedingly unlikely.”
Mejia-Henriquez crossed into the United States without inspection in 2015, telling border agents he came “to look for work” and feared gang violence.
He settled near Baltimore, where he worked in construction and started a family. Over the following years, he accumulated several criminal charges, culminating in a 2023 conviction for conspiracy to commit armed robbery after he and an accomplice held a convenience store cashier at gunpoint.
Following that conviction, the U.S. government initiated deportation proceedings. Mejia-Henriquez conceded he was removable but sought protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT).
He claimed he faced arrest and torture if returned to El Salvador due to childhood associations with MS-13 members, visible tattoos, and an outstanding 2017 Salvadoran arrest warrant for extortion. He also cited harsh conditions in Salvadoran prisons under the nation’s ongoing “state of exception,” testifying that he feared going back “because of what’s going on in El Salvador.”
An immigration judge denied his claims after finding his testimony inconsistent, unconvincing, and lacking evidence that authorities would specifically single him out for torture. The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed that decision.
Mejia-Henriquez then petitioned the Third Circuit, appealing only the denial of torture protection rather than his underlying deportation order. While his appeal was pending, the court lifted a temporary stay after concluding he was unlikely to win on the merits, allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport him. Upon arrival in El Salvador, local authorities placed him in custody at the San Luis Mariona prison on suspicion of gang activity.
In his petition, Mejia-Henriquez argued that the court could still hear his case under an ICE policy that occasionally helps deported individuals return if their appeals succeed. The court rejected that argument, pointing out that the policy excludes people with serious national security flags.
Hardiman noted that Mejia-Henriquez is suspected of belonging to MS-13, which is designated as a foreign terrorist organization, and is currently held under foreign criminal charges. The court also emphasized that U.S. judges lack the legal power to order a foreign government to release a prisoner from custody.
Circuit Judge Emil Bove filed a concurring opinion, joined by Hardiman, arguing that federal law does not give appellate courts jurisdiction to review standalone torture claims unless the immigrant also challenges the underlying deportation order itself.
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