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  • Romagoza Arce v. Garcia and Vides Casanova
  • Related Resources

Updates on the Removal of General Garcia

 

Justice Department Releases Board Decision on Garcia Removal

After The New York Times filed an FOIA request, the U.S. Department of Justice released the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision regarding the removal of former Salvadoran Defense Minister General Garcia.

 

U.S. Government Releases Documents Related to Garcia Proceedings

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.

 

Report by Expert Witness Stanford Professor Terry Karl
October 2nd, 2014
The U.S. government released the expert report of Stanford professor Terry Karl, which was used in the removal proceedings against former Salvadoran Minster of Defense Garcia. Professor Karl’s report was a basis for the immigration judge’s ruling that Garcia should be removed from the U.S. because of his involvement in numerous human rights violations during El Salvador’s civil war. This document was released pursuant to a NY Times FOIA request.

 

Salvadoran General Accused in Killings Should Be Deported, Miami Judge Says
by Julia Preston, The New York Times
April 11th, 2014

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.

 

Summary of the Immigration Court Decision in the Removal Case of Former General Jose Guillermo Garcia-Merino
April 11th, 2014

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.

 

Tercer y último día de testimonio en la audiencia de expulsión del General José Guillermo García
February 27th, 2013

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.

 

Third Day of the Continued Removal Hearing of General García
February 27th, 2013

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.”

 

Second Day of the Continued Removal Hearing of General García
February 26th, 2013

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.

 

First Day of the Continued Removal Hearing of General García
February 25th, 2013

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.

 

Update on Third and Fourth Day of Testimony in the Removal Trial of General García
December 14th, 2012

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.

 

Update on Second Day of Testimony in the Removal Trial of General García
December 12th, 2012

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.

 

Update on the First Day of Testimony in the Removal Trial of General García
December 11th, 2012

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

 

CJA’s Carolyn Patty Blum Analyzes Board of Immigration Appeals’ Decision Regarding Removal of Vides Casanova

The Board of Immigration Appeals, the highest administrative review authority for the US Immigration Courts, has upheld the removal order for Vides Casanova in a case published as a precedent decision. As precedent, it now controls future rulings by Immigration Judges on similar issues nationwide.

 

Summary of Oral Argument at the Appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals by General Eugenio Vides Casanova from Removal Decision by Immigration Judge James Grim, Orlando, FL.,

On February 6, 2014, CJA Senior Legal Adviser Carolyn Patty Blum attended the oral arguments of General Eugenio Vides Casanova’s before a three judge panel of the Board of Immigration Appeals.

 

Salvadoran Cites U.S. Backing of Violence in Deportation Appeal
by Lalita Clozel, Los Angeles Times
February 6th, 2014

A former Salvadoran general accused of overseeing the torture and killing of thousands of civilians during a 12-year civil war appealed a U.S. deportation order Thursday on the grounds that his nation’s anti-communist campaign was backed and funded by the American government.

 

Ex-Salvadoran General Appeals Deportation Order
by Matthew Barakat, Associated Press
February 6th, 2014

Vides Casanova, who was El Salvador’s defense minister, has been living in Florida since immigrating in 1989. In 2012, an immigration judge ruled that he could be deported for his role in multiple acts of killings and torture committed by the Salvadoran military, including the slayings of three American nuns and a lay churchwoman in 1980.

 

Ex-Salvadoran General has Appealed Judge’s Decision Ordering his Removal from U.S.
February 6th, 2014

The U.S. has defended a judge’s decision ordering General Vides-Casanova’s removal from the U.S. for his role in widespread human rights abuses in El Salvador in the 1980s, including the torture of CJA’s clients and the murder of four American churchwomen. Click here for the press release, here to read the full immigration court decision or here to read a summary of the oral arguments of the appeal hearing.

 

U.S. Justice Dept. Releases Judge’s Ruling on Ex-Salvadoran General
by Julia Preston and Randal C. Archibold, The New York Times
April 11th, 2013

The Justice Department has released a United States immigration judge’s ruling ordering the deportation of a former high-ranking Salvadoran military officer over his role in the 1980 rape and murder of four American churchwomen and other crimes there.

 

DOJ Letter
April 4th, 2013

This letter from the DOJ accompanied the decision when it was released to the New York Times.

 

Update: First Round of Testimony from Vides-Casanova Hearing
May 2nd, 2011

This trial marks the first time the DHS has used the INA removal provisions on torture against a senior level commander. The removal hearing began April 18, 2011 in Orlando, Florida, with the DHS calling its first witness: Robert White, U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador from March 1980 to early 1981.

 

CJA Reporting from Vides Casanova Removal Hearing
April 18th, 2011

On April 18, 2011, CJA lawyers, Almudena Bernabeu and Carolyn Patty Blum, will attend an Orlando courtroom where two CJA clients, Dr. Juan Romagoza and Daniel Alvarado, will testify in a removal proceeding against former Salvadoran General and Minister of Defense, Eugenio Vides Casanova.

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