BOSTON (AP) — The Trump administration apologized in court for an ‘error’ in the deportation of a Massachusetts college student who was detained as she tried to fly home to surprise her family for Thanksgiving, but argued that the mistake should not affect her case.
Any Lucía López Belloza, a 19-year-old first-year student at Babson College, was detained at Boston’s airport on November 20 and sent to Honduras two days later. Her deportation proceeded despite an emergency court order on November 21 directing the government to keep her in Massachusetts or somewhere else in the United States for at least 72 hours.
López Belloza, whose family immigrated from Honduras to the United States in 2014, is currently staying with her grandparents and studying remotely. She is not in detention and recently visited an aunt in El Salvador.
Her case is the latest involving a deportation carried out despite a court order. Kilmar Ábrego García was deported to El Salvador despite a ruling that should have prevented it. The Trump administration initially opposed efforts to bring him back, but ultimately complied after the Supreme Court intervened. And last June, a Guatemalan man identified as O.C.G. was returned to the United States after a judge determined that his deportation from Mexico likely “lacked any semblance of due process.”
In a federal court hearing on Tuesday in Boston, the government argued that the court lacks jurisdiction because López Belloza’s lawyers filed their suit several hours after she had arrived in Texas while en route out of the country. But the government also acknowledged that it violated the judge’s order.
In court filings and in court, government attorneys said that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officer mistakenly believed the order no longer applied because López Belloza had already left Massachusetts. The officer did not trigger a system that alerts other ICE employees that a case is subject to judicial review and that the deportation should be halted.
“On behalf of the government, we want to offer our sincere apologies,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Sauter to the judge, noting that the employee understands “that he made a mistake.” The breach, Sauter added, was “an unintentional error by an individual, not an intentional act of violating a court order.”
In a January 2 filing with the court, the ICE agent also admitted that he failed to notify ICE’s Port Isabel, Texas office that the deportation mission needed to be cancelled. He said he believed the judge’s order did not apply once López Belloza was no longer in the state.
The government maintains that her deportation was legal because a 2016 immigration judge ordered López Belloza and her mother deportation, and the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed her appeal in 2017. Prosecutors said she could have pursued additional appeals or sought a stay of deportation.
Her attorney, Todd Pomerleau, countered that she was deported in clear violation of the November 21 order and said the government’s actions deprived her of due process. “I hoped the government would show some leniency and bring her back,” he said. “They violated a court order.”
Judge Richard Stearns said he appreciated the government acknowledging the error, calling it a bureaucratic mistake that was “tragic.” But he appeared to rule out the possibility of holding the government in contempt, noting that the violation did not seem intentional. He also questioned whether he has jurisdiction over the case, aligning with the government in concluding that the court order had been filed several hours after she was sent to Texas.
“It may not be anyone’s fault, but she was the victim of it,” Stearns noted, adding at one point that López Belloza could explore applying for a student visa.
Pomerleau pointed out that a possible resolution would be to allow López Belloza to return to finish her studies while he works to reopen the underlying deportation order.
