The Trump administration apologized in court for its “mistake” in deporting a Massachusetts college student. Detained while trying to fly home Surprised her family on Thanksgiving but still thinks the mistake shouldn’t affect her case.
Lucia Lopez Belloza, 19, a freshman at Babson College, was detained at a Boston airport on Nov. 20 and flown to Honduras two days later. She was deported despite an emergency court order on Nov. 21 directing the government to keep her in Massachusetts or elsewhere in the United States for at least 72 hours.
Lopez Belloza, whose family immigrated to the United States from Honduras in 2014, is living with her grandparents and studying remotely. She was not detained and was recently visiting an aunt in El Salvador.
Her case is the latest involving deportations despite court orders. Guilma Abrego Garcia He was deported to El Salvador despite a ruling that should have prevented it. The Trump administration initially opposed bringing him back to the United States but eventually agreed after the U.S. Supreme Court intervened. Last June, a Guatemalan man identified as OCG was arrested Return to the United States The judge found that his deportation from Mexico may have “lacked any due process.”
At a federal court hearing in Boston on Tuesday, the government argued the court lacked jurisdiction because Lopez Bellosa’s lawyers filed the lawsuit hours after she left the country and arrived in Texas. But the government also admitted it violated the judge’s order.
In court documents and in open court, government lawyers said an Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officer mistakenly believed the order no longer applied because Lopez-Belosa had left Massachusetts. The officer failed to activate a system that alerted other ICE officials that the case was under judicial review and that the deportation should be halted.
“We sincerely apologize on behalf of the government,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Sauter told the judge, saying the employee understood “he made a mistake.” Sauter added that the breach was “an unintentional mistake by one person rather than a deliberate violation of a court order.”
In a statement filed with the court on January 2, the ICE official also admitted that he failed to notify the ICE Enforcement Office in Port Isabel, Texas, that the deportations needed to be canceled. He said he believed the judge’s order no longer applied once Lopez-Belosa was no longer in the state.
government Insisting her deportation was legal An immigration judge ordered Lopez Bellosa and her mother deported in 2016, and the Board of Immigration Appeals denied their appeal in 2017. Prosecutors said she could have filed more appeals or sought a stay of deportation.
Her attorney, Todd Pomerleau, countered that her deportation was a clear violation of the Nov. 21 order and said the government’s actions denied her due process. “I hope the government will show some leniency and bring her back,” he said. “They violated the court order.”
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns said he appreciated the government’s admission of the error, calling it a “tragic” bureaucratic error. But it appeared to rule out defiance of the government, noting that the breach did not appear to be intentional. He also questioned whether he had jurisdiction over the case, appearing to side with the government, arguing the court order was filed hours after she was flown to Texas.
“It may not be anyone’s fault, but she was the victim,” Stearns said, adding that at one point Lopez-Belosa could have considered applying for a student visa.
Pomerleau said one possible solution would be to allow Lopez-Belosa to return to complete her education while he works to re-activate the underlying deportation order.