US citizen back home after botched deportation

LOS ANGELES, Aug 8 (Reuters) A mentally disabled US man who was deported by mistake returned to his family yesterday after spending three months in Mexico in a case that has sparked criticism of US deportation policy.

''He is at home, beginning what will be a long recuperation process,'' said Mark Rosenbaum, the Southern California legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has sued the US government over Pedro Guzman's deportation.

Guzman, 29, was deported to Tijuana, Mexico in May from a US jail, where he was incorrectly identified as being in the United States illegally.

He was found trying to cross back into the United States on Sunday, and taken into custody by authorities in Calexico, California. Guzman was then transported to a jail in Los Angeles and a judge ordered his release.

During his time in Mexico, Guzman walked roughly 160 km, ate out of garbage cans and bathed in rivers, Rosenbaum said.

Once in Mexico, Guzman borrowed a phone to call his sister to say he had been deported. The call cut off and before this week, the family had had no further contact with Guzman.

Guzman's mother Maria Carbajal, choking back sobs at a news conference, said her son was not the same as when she last saw him in jail, where he was serving time on charges of trespassing.

''They took him whole, but only returned half of him to me,'' she said.

In June, the ACLU sued the US government, asking for the deportation order to be suspended and for the government to help locate Guzman. Rosenbaum said the ACLU is considering another lawsuit.

Leaders of the rights organization say Guzman's case shows how inhumane and vulnerable to error the US deportation process is.

Deportations by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency have increased in recent months, with enforcement tighter since Congress failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform earlier this year.

Lori Haley, a spokeswoman for the ICE, declined comment on Guzman's case as it is still in the courts.

Reuters SG DB0944