In November 2022, a man in El Salvador believed he had few options: be snatched off the street by police or testify against Massachusetts members of MS-13, the criminal organization responsible for countless murders and other violent crimes in the U.S. and Central America.
But both happened. After nine months in Salvadoran prisons, the man only known as John Doe in court documents came to the United States as a material witness for a racketeering case in exchange, as he understood it, for refuge in the U.S.
He's now locked up in a facility here. A material witness often has testimony crucial to a case, and can be detained to protect them or prevent them from fleeing. In the midst of the MS-13 case, the U.S. government revealed his identity in evidence and has been attempting to deport him.
In January, Doe filed a habeas corpus petition in Massachusetts federal court in his ongoing fight with the U.S. government to remain here as an asylum seeker. Exposed as a snitch, Doe stated in the petition that he faces a death sentence if he returns.
Mneesha Gellman, an Emerson College professor and expert on El Salvador who provided details about the gang in the petition, backed up Doe's claim.
She said if Doe returns, he “would be at particular risk of arbitrary detention and violence, including psychological or physical abuse, torture and death, by either state or gang actors due to his background as an FBI informant whose identity was disclosed to members of MS-13.”
That same month, an immigration judge ordered Doe not to be removed while his immigration case plays out.
Posted by John3262005