US deports wrong raid detainee in case of mistaken identity

A man arrested during the March 6 raid at the Michael Bianco leather factory in New Bedford was deported by mistake, federal officials said yesterday.

Juan Sam-Castro, a native of Guatemala, was mistaken for another man of the same name and nationality, said Leticia Zamarripa, a spokeswoman for US Immigration and Customs Enforce ment in El Paso, Texas.

"As soon as ICE became aware of the error, we took immediate efforts to bring Mr. Castro back to the United States," Zamarripa said.

"We're trying to locate him. . . . ICE is looking into the circumstances of his removal."

Zamarripa said they would pay to fly him back to the United States if he is found.

Sam-Castro was deported from El Paso, where he had spent more than a month in a federal detention facility, on April 25, said Zamarripa.

She said a federal judge in Boston had listed him among a group of detainees temporarily protected against deportation. His residence status was unclear.

The Associated Press reported that US District Judge Richard Stearns granted a temporary restrain ing order barring federal officials from deporting about 110 of 360 workers arrested in the raid.

Lawyers for the detainees said the workers detained in El Paso may have agreed to waive an appeal of their deportation order under duress or without proper translators, the AP reported.

The other Juan Sam-Castro, also a Bianco employee from Guatemala, is still being detained in El Paso, said Bernard Bonn, an attorney for the immigrants.

"I have to believe it's just a mistake," Bonn said.

"I can't believe that government officials would deliberately violate the judge's order, so I just think it was a mistake."