DEA informant won't be deported

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A federal immigration judge has blocked the deportation of a Mexican national who worked as an undercover informant for U.S. drug agents, saying he faced being killed by drug cartel members or complicit Mexican government officials.

Immigration Judge Joseph Dierkes said that Guillermo Eduardo Ramirez Peyro, an informant for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in its investigation of a Juarez cartel, could not safely be relocated to Mexico as sought by U.S. immigration officials and that he could fall victim to Mexican government officials on the cartel's payroll.

The ruling — subject to review by the Board of Immigration Appeals — came during a hearing Thursday.

"In a way, this is a big win" for Ramirez, the informant's El Paso attorney, Jodi Goodwin, told The Washington Times. "In another way, this is back where we started two years ago. It's kind of been a cat-and-mouse game. The government reserved their right to an appeal and they have 30 days to do so, while we wait once again."

Mrs. Goodwin said the case relied on two critical issues: whether Ramirez "could be reasonably located to another part of Mexico" and whether "the Mexican government would acquiesce in the torture of my client by the cartel."

She said the judge ruled that "Mexico is a death sentence for my client."

"He's been in solitary confinement for more than three-and-a-half years," Mrs. Goodwin said. "It's not in my client's best interest to be held in a general population situation. I've talked to him about it. He's holding up very well, and he's happy the government can't deport him for now."

Ramirez, also known as "Lalo," has argued that he would be killed by cartel members or Mexican government officials if he was returned home because of his work with ICE.

ICE agents already had moved Ramirez and his family out of Mexico for their protection after his involvement in what became known as the "House of Death" killings in Juarez. The move came after the arrest and conviction of one of the cartel bosses, Heriberto Santillan-Tabares, based on Ramirez's information.

Later, Homeland Security moved Ramirez to protective custody at a federal detention center and sought to deport him to Mexico as an illegal alien. His wife and two children were moved for their protection to New Mexico, where their housing, food and other necessary costs are being paid for by the U.S. government.

Sandalio "Sandy" Gonzalez, a retired U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) senior executive service supervisor, said the judge "did the right thing," adding that Ramirez "is one of the few people who know the truth about what happened and sending him back now would surely lead to his death."

Although Mr. Gonzalez, who headed DEA actions in west Texas and New Mexico at the time of the Juarez investigation, has said Ramirez is in danger if returned to Mexico, he has questioned why he was used by ICE as an informant after his role in the Juarez killings was established.

He said Congress needs to intervene with congressional hearings and investigations "to get to the truth of the matter."

Ramirez was the major source of information in an investigation of the Juarez cartel, which killed a dozen people. Mexican authorities later discovered the bodies buried in the back yard of the "House of Death." Court records show Ramirez participated in at least two of the killings and helped bury the bodies in others.