A federal judge in Boston has ruled that a college student who was deported to Honduras while traveling for Thanksgiving in November must be returned to the United States within two weeks. U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns issued an order requiring the return of 19-year-old Babson College freshman Any Lucia Lopez Belloza by the end of February.
Stearns expressed disappointment that the Trump administration did not come up with a solution after admitting to mistakenly deporting Lopez Belloza. He stated that it was the responsibility of the courts to determine her rights and the legality of her removal.
The Department of Homeland Security responded by saying that Lopez Belloza received “full due process” and a final order of removal. The government claimed that she entered the U.S. in 2014 and that the removal order was issued by an immigration judge the following year.
Despite the government’s assertion that Lopez Belloza missed multiple opportunities to appeal, she maintains that her previous attorney informed her that there was no removal order against her.
Lopez Belloza, who has no criminal record, was detained at Boston’s airport on November 20 as she was getting ready to fly to Texas for the holiday. She was deported two days later and has been staying with her grandparents in Honduras, a country she had not visited in over a decade.
Babson College has offered her support to continue her studies remotely as she pursues a business degree.
Reporter: Scolforo from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
