Trump's ICE Deported Trans Woman Improperly After Court Warned She Could Be Killedhttps://www.them.us/story/britania-uriostegui-rios-ice-deportation-mexico-illegal-case 🔗Samantha Riedel (19 Nov 2025)
The Trump administration "inadvertently" deported a transgender woman to Mexico last week, violating a court order that ruled she was likely to be tortured or killed there, according to a new federal lawsuit filed on Monday.
According to the complaint, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported Britania Uriostegui Rios from Louisiana to Mexico last week "without any notice whatsoever" to her attorneys. Deportation proceedings against Uriostegui Rios began in 2024, after she was convicted on assault charges and lost legal residency. But her removal to Mexico specifically violates a March court order under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, a type of deferral abbreviated in immigration proceedings as DCAT, which found that Uriostegui Rios would "more likely than not" face torture or death in Mexico "with the acquiescence of the government."
Uriostegui Rios' attorneys are now suing President Donald Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and four other administration officials for relief, alleging violations of Uriostegui's due process rights and the Administrative Procedure Act. The complaint also asks for Uriostegui to be released from custody on a supervision plan once she is returned to the U.S.
Uriostegui Rios was expected to return to the U.S. via a Tijuana port of entry on Tuesday, but Smitherman's emails indicated that ICE had refused the request to release her on supervision. "Other than informing Britania's habeas counsel that Defendants will allow Britania to reenter the United States if she happens to make it to a port of entry without dying, they offer no additional aid whatsoever," Uriostegui Rios' lawyers wrote in the complaint.
