BOSTON (AP) — A college student deported to Honduras while traveling for Thanksgiving in November must be returned to the United States within two weeks, a federal judge in Boston ruled Friday.
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns issued an order that requires the return of 19-year-old Babson College freshman Any Lucia Lopez Belloza by the end of February.
Judge Stearns expressed disappointment that the Trump administration had failed to provide a solution after acknowledging it had made a mistake in deporting Lopez Belloza. He underscored that it was up to the courts to determine her rights and evaluate the legality of her removal.
“This is not an issue for the Executive to prejudge and arrogate to itself, whatever stance it may choose to take in litigating the removal issue before a court of law,” Stearns wrote.
In response to the ruling, the Department of Homeland Security released a statement asserting that Lopez Belloza had received “full due process” and a final order of removal. The agency noted that she entered the U.S. in 2014, with the removal order issued by an immigration judge the following year.
The government has stated that she missed multiple opportunities to appeal her case. However, Lopez Belloza contends her past attorney assured her there was no removal order.
Her attorney, Todd Pomerleau, commented that the government's response “spills a lot of ink on the difficulty of a student visa, but fails to address the numerous simple solutions available to itself to rectify its ‘mistaken’ deportation.”
Lopez Belloza was detained at Boston’s airport on November 20 as she was preparing to fly to Texas for the holiday. She was deported two days later and has been living with her grandparents in Honduras, a country she left over a decade ago.
Babson College has offered support for her to continue her studies remotely while she pursues a business degree.
