US Citizen Deported to Mexico Finally Returns Home After Nearly Five Months in Immigration Nightmare

Brian José Morales García, a 25-year-old US citizen who was deported to Mexico after a traffic stop in Texas, has finally returned to the United States after spending almost five months outside the country he says he was born in.

García returned to the United States after his lawyers submitted additional records supporting his claim that he was born in Denver, Colorado, as part of a federal lawsuit challenging his detention and deportation.

García was stopped while travelling with his employer near Fredericksburg, Texas, in April. The encounter escalated after he was unable to immediately provide identification or proof of citizenship.

A Traffic Stop Turned Into Deportation

The case began as a routine encounter but quickly turned into an immigration dispute. García had been living and working in Texas after growing up in Mexico. He has dual citizenship, but his lawyers said authorities questioned his account of being born in the United States and accused him of entering the country unlawfully.

Speaking to The Texas Tribune, García said he told both police and immigration agents several times that he was a US citizen and had documents at his Austin residence to prove it. According to him, however, he was denied the opportunity to show those records.

After spending five days in custody, he became worried that he could remain detained for several months. He ultimately signed paperwork accepting expedited deportation, allowing him to return to his wife and newborn daughter in Mexico. 'Eventually I told them what they wanted to hear because I wanted to speed up the process and return and see my daughter,' he told the Tribune.

His lawyers later submitted additional hospital records, witness affidavits and his certified Colorado birth record as evidence supporting his citizenship, per the Texas Tribune. However, variations in García's US and Mexican records complicated the situation. His Mexican identification contained different versions of his first name and birth date.

According to his mother, the discrepancies arose when the family registered him in Mexico after leaving Colorado when he was a child. Despite the conflicting paperwork, his attorneys argued that his certified Colorado birth record showed he was born in Denver and supported his claim to US citizenship.

DHS Disputed His Citizenship

In a written statement, DHS disputed Morales' account, saying its agents had determined he was unlawfully in the United States. The agency said, 'Agents determined Morales-Garcia was illegally in the US through record checks. Morales-Garcia also admitted he is a Mexican national and he entered the country illegally. He was subsequently removed to Mexico on April 7,' that statement from DHS said.

García said he first maintained that he had crossed into the US legally at an El Paso port of entry. He said agents challenged his account and threatened him with prison, after which he admitted to an illegal entry. 'They told me I could go to prison, so I just told them I entered illegally,' García said. 'They asked me how many miles away from the city and what date I entered, so at this point I was just making up numbers.'

García crossed back into the US on 30 August after travelling north from Aguascalientes. His attorney met him at the border in Laredo, Texas, ending nearly five months of separation from the country where his birth records place his birthplace. Although he was able to return, his lawsuit has not ended, and his lawyers say they intend to pursue accountability over what happened.