'Bring him back to US': Court says Indian man Francisco D’Costa wrongfully deported, was put on flight after 'stay' order

A US federal court has now asked the immigration authorities to bring back an Indian man who the court believes was wrongfully deported from the country. Three hours before the man was put on a Turkish Airlines plane, there was a stay order on his deportation which was also served to ICE before the man was deported. Following this, now a unique situation has been created where the court ordered the authorities to bring the man back to the US.

Francisco D'Costa, the Indian man, as identified by the court order, has lived in the US since 2009. He was asked to appear before an immigration judge on October 10, 2025. On October 30, D'Costa admitted that he should be removed from the US -- implying that he had no legal status -- and was granted voluntary departure.




Then D'Costa decided to reopen his case and requested a stay of removal on December 3. He said he was unaware of the "changed country conditions in India" which put him at risk of persecution as he converted to Christianity.

On December 20, a stay was ordered and later in the day, D'Costa was put on a Turkish Airlines flight for his deportation. This revelation came at a later date during a hearing about that case, where the US attorney informed the court that he was deported without any incident.

D'Costa, however, pursued the case and appealed for his immediate return to the US. The US attorney argued that bringing him back to US would be futile and he was not deprived of due process; and that his deportation was inevitable; and also that he could join hearings remotely from India.

But the court concluded that D'Costa's return to the US is the "only remedy that can ensure that petitioner's (D'Costa) case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly removed".