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The U.S. Department of Justice has released more documents from the removal proceedings related to former Salvadoran General Garcia. Click here to view the documents.

An immigration judge has found that a former defense minister in El Salvador, a close ally of the United States during a civil war there in the 1980s, should be deported because of his involvement in a number of human rights violations, including the assassination of an archbishop and the massacre of more than 1,000 peasants.

Judge Horn’s opinion, like that of Judge Grim who presided over the removal proceeding of former General and Minister of Defense Eugenio Vides-Casanova, is a collection of some of the most heinous crimes committed in El Salvador in the 1980s. In a hard-hitting and powerful decision, J. Horn held former General Garcia responsible for these crimes as the Minister of Defense.

Resumen del último día de audiencia en Miami en el proceso de deportación del general salvadoreño Guillermo García, ex ministro de defensa, por su role en los abusos cometidos por el ejército salvadoreño contra civiles.

General Garcia made a startling admission in court: yes, he did bear responsibility for the human rights abuses committed by the military in El Salvador during the period of time he was Minister of Defense. Despite accepting responsibility for these crimes, Garcia argued that he still bore no “culpability.”

General Garcia took the witness stand in his own defense to the charges that he is removable from the United States because he “ordered, incited, assisted or otherwise participated in torture and extra-judicial killing.” Garcia testified that he had entered the Salvadoran Military Academy directly from High School, graduated from the Academy in 1956 with the highest honors for his class (in El Salvador referred to as his “tanda.”) and then spent the next 40 years in military service.

The small courtroom of Immigration Judge Michael Horn once again heard testimony in the removal case of former Salvadoran General and Minister of Defense Jose Guillermo Garcia. Today’s hearing began and concluded the cross examination, redirect and re-cross of expert witness, Stanford political scientist and El Salvador specialist, Professor Terry Karl.

Professor Terry Karl, Gildred Professor of Latin American Studies and Professor of Political Science at Stanford University, testified as an expert witness in the removal case of General Jose Guillermo García. Her testimony, which ranged over two days, was premised on extensive, complex research over the past thirty years on El Salvador.

Today was an emotional day in the small courtroom of Immigration Judge Michael Horn on the fourth floor of the DHS building in Miami. CJA client Juan Romagoza gave moving testimony about his experiences as a doctor in El Salvador and then about his capture and torture by the Army and the National Guard. Today is the 32nd anniversary of those events.

Testimony in the removal trial of former Salvadoran General Jose García began with a moving opening statement by U.S. Department of Homeland Security trial counsel Loren Coy. Mr. Coy explained how El Salvador was dominated by military governments that supported the aims of the oligarchs – El Salvador’s “14 families” who controlled most of the land.

 

Updates on the Removal of General Vides Casanova