The government was wrong to deport a former rebel fighter back to Nicaragua after he had been a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. for 31 years, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has ruled.

Circuit Judges Charles Wilson and Gerald Tjoflat—joined by U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, sitting by designation—overturned the Board of Immigration Appeals in an opinion released July 13.