U.S. stops warlord’s deportation to Italy
The Trump administration MIAMI— has blocked the scheduled removal of a former Colombian paramilitary boss to Italy and nowintends to deport him to his South American homeland, where he’s been found responsible for hundreds ofwar crimes.
Salvato re Mancuso received notification of the surprise reversal on Sunday, according to two people familiar with the matter who discussed the proceedings on condition of anonymity. His lawyers have 14 days to challenge the deportation order.
Mancuso’s removal toItaly, wherehe also has citizenship, was ordered by the Department of Homeland Security in April after he completed inMarch a 12-year sentence for cocaine trafficking.
But he’s been held in federal custody ever since as Colombia’sgovernmentfights to have him returned to continue with truth and reconciliation efforts that stalled in 2008 with the extradition to the U.S. of 14 warlords, including Mancuso, the former top commander of the United Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC.
Just a week ago, Justice Department attorneys reaffirmed before aWashington, D.C., federal court theTrump administration’s pledge to removeMancuso to Italy no
later than Sept. 4.
Attorneys for Mancuso went tocourt seeking toforce Attorney General William Barr to carry out the April 15 order removingMancuso to Italy, arguing thatU.S. ImmigrationandCustomsEnforcementhad “illegally detained” their client beyond the maximum 90 days allowed for the removal of aliens.
However, in substituting Colombia for Italy, U.S. officials cited a provision in the U.S. Immigration andNationalityAct that allows theAttorneyGeneral to disregard the country designated for an alien’s removal if it isdeemed that carrying out the order would be “prejudicial to the United States,” according to the two people familiar with the proceedings.
The Justice and State Department declined tocomment, referring all inquiries toDHS, which didn’t respond to the AP’s request.
Mancuso can still prevent his removal to Colombia if granted asylum in the U.S. like his ex-wife and youngest child. InMarch, his immigration attorney told DHS officials that Mancuso had already signed an asylum application, saying his client was “terrified” by the prospect of returning to Colombia.
“There is absolute certainty about the torture he would faceandthe likelihood of his assassination,” attorney Hector Mora wrote in a letter to DHS officials, which came to light in recent court filings. “He is the target of many powerful groups and individuals thatwere incriminated, criticizedandexposed throughout his cooperation with theU.S. government, the cooperation with the Colombian judiciary and his multiple statements.”
Mancuso, 55, was the most remorseful of the former right-wing militia leaders after demobilizing and his eagerness todiscuss the paramilitaries’ war crimes has already shaken Colombia’s politics.
His boast in 2005 that a third of Colombia’s congresswas elected with paramilitary support triggered a wave of judicial investigations that ended with dozens of elected officials behind bars. His lawyers contend that others still in power have not hidden their desire to find a Colombian court to order Mancuso’s arrest in an effort to silence him.
Thismonth, President Iván Duque’s government submitted to the U.S. what was its fourth extradition request forMancuso. One of the earlier requests was unilaterally withdrawn in July after Mancuso’s legal team, led by Miami defense attorney Joaquin Perez, pointed out in U.S. federal court that it was based on an arrest order already canceled by aColombian judge.
It’s not clear what happened to the other two requests but neither hasbeen validated by a U.S. court.