How crazy is the United States immigration enforcement system? An El Salvadoran man alleged to be a member of the Surenos gang living in Los Angeles who was convicted of murder and other violent crimes is being protected from deportation by the Trump administration because of a December 2024 Biden Department of Justice ruling protecting the killer from being sent back to El Salvador over fears of torture, and a 2025 nationwide injunction by a federal judge delaying deputations to third party countries.
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin filed a stunning report after doing a ride-along with Homeland Security agents when they went to arrest Alexander Alfredo Palacios Guevara on a deportation order.
Guevara did not resist arrest. He shocked unaware agents and Melugin when he told them as he was being led into an ICE detention center, “I have CAT, I have CAT,” shorthand for DCAT, Deferral of Removal under the Convention Against Torture protection from deportation.
Guevara explained, “I just got CAT on December the 18th of last year by the BIA. You can call my lawyer.”
Asked by Melugin if he was a convicted murderer, Guevara responded, “I am free.”
ICE confirmed Guevara’s protected status and released him later that day, only to go pick him up the following day. He remains in custody as a threat to public safety while the Trump administration works on deporting him.
DHS statement given to Fox:
“This criminal alien should never have been roaming the streets of Los Angeles. Not only is he a member of the ruthless Surenos gang, but he also has multiple convictions for murder, assault and rape or sexual abuse of a minor. A highly unusual Biden-era legal decision from December allowed this dangerous criminal to live in American communities. Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, we are removing public safety threats as it always should have been.”
Melugin confirmed Guevara was granted DCAT status by BIA, the Bureau of Immigration Appeals, on December 18, 2024.
The BIA is part of the Justice Department. As such the DCAT order can be overruled by Attorney General Pam Bondi or a federal judge according to the BIA page at the DOJ:
The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) is the highest administrative body for interpreting and applying immigration laws. The BIA is located at EOIR headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia. Generally, the BIA does not conduct courtroom proceedings – it decides appeals by conducting a “paper review” of cases. On rare occasions, however, the BIA hears oral arguments of appealed cases, predominately at headquarters.
The BIA has been given nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals from certain decisions rendered by Immigration Judges and by district directors of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a wide variety of proceedings in which the Government of the United States is one party and the other party is an alien, a citizen, or a business firm.
BIA decisions are binding on all DHS officers and Immigration Judges unless modified or overruled by the Attorney General or a federal court. Most BIA decisions are subject to judicial review in the federal courts. The majority of appeals reaching the BIA involve orders of removal and applications for relief from removal. Other cases before the BIA include the exclusion of aliens applying for admission to the United States, petitions to classify the status of alien relatives for the issuance of preference immigrant visas, fines imposed upon carriers for the violation of immigration laws, and motions for reopening and reconsideration of decisions previously rendered.
The BIA is directed to exercise its independent judgment in hearing appeals for the Attorney General. BIA decisions designated for publication are printed in bound volumes entitled Administrative Decisions Under Immigration and Nationality Laws of the United States.
Video report posted by Melugin:
EXCLUSIVE: We were with ICE & HSI Los Angeles as they arrested a Salvadoran alien w/ an active deportation order who has convictions for murder & attempted murder in LA County, but ICE may not be able to deport him due to a protection he got in the final days of the Biden admin.… pic.twitter.com/dpVJaINUBP
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) June 19, 2025
