Donald Trump is cracking down on illegal immigration. However, there are those who have been deported who shouldn’t have. Now, the Trump administration has apologized to a 19-year-old student who was simply flying home for Thanksgiving but was not allowed to return.
Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, a 19-year-old Babson College freshman, was detained at Boston’s airport on November 20. She was set to travel home to Texas to spend Thanksgiving with her family.
However, hugs from her parents and two younger sisters were exchanged with federal immigration officials. Moments before she boarded the flight, Lopez Belloza was informed that her boarding pass was incorrect.
Her lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, explained to CNN that while on her way to customer service, she was “surrounded, (placed) in handcuffs, and dragged out of the airport.”
“She had chains around her ankles. Handcuffs on her wrists,” the attorney added. “Put on a plane and deported to a country she hadn’t been to in like 12 years. It’s beyond the pale.”
In the following 48 hours, Lopez Belloza was first sent to Texas, then Honduras. It was the country she was born in, but hadn’t been to since she was 7. Her parents had brought her to the US to seek asylum.
19-year-old Massachusetts student deported
A federal judge issued an order barring the US government from removing her from US territory or transferring her outside Massachusetts, per federal court documents.
In the roughly 48 hours after, Lopez Belloza was sent to Texas and then Honduras, the country where she was born but had not seen since she was 7 years old, when her parents brought her to the United States to seek asylum.
Lopez Belloza was deported even after a federal judge issued an order barring the government from removing her from the US or transferring her outside of Massachusetts, according to her attorney and federal court documents.
Todd Pomerleau told CNN that the 19-year-old was never shown a warrant, a removal order, or even given any explanation for why she had been detained.
“I still am not convinced that she ever had an order removal. … She wasn’t shown any proof,” Pomerleau said.
The Department of Homeland Security stated that Lopez Belloza had entered the US in 2014, and that an immigration judge ordered her removal the year after, but “illegally stayed in the country since.”
“I have worked so hard”
The case was closed in 2017, Pomerlau said. Speaking with the Austin American-Statesman, Any Lucia Lopez Belloza ‘s family was denied asylum. However, he claimed they had received assurance from a judge that they wouldn’t be deported.
“If I had been aware of my 2017 deportation order, I would not have traveled with my valid passport,” the 19-year-old said, per AP. “I would have dedicated significant time and effort during the past eight years to hiring an attorney who could help me resolve my immigration situation.”
Pomerleau said the only records he’s found in government databases indicate her case was closed in 2017. Her lawyer said the 19-year-old had received a scholarship to study at Babson College in Massachusetts.
“I have worked so hard to be able to be at Babson my first semester, that was my dream,” Any Lucia Lopez Belloza told the Boston Globe from her grandparents’ home in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
A spokesperson for Babson College said, “We understand that this news may feel unsettling, particularly for our students, faculty, and staff who may already be navigating uncertainty. Our ability to share specifics is limited by law, but please know that our focus remains on supporting the student and their family, as well as the well-being of our community.”
Asssistant US attorney issues rare apology for mistakenly deporting 19-year-old student
Todd Pomerleau said the focus now is on returning Lopez Belloza to the US.
“We’re going to ask that the federal judge require the United States to bring her back to the United States because it is an egregious violation of her due process rights.”
It’s been confirmed that the ICE officer who detained Lopez Belloza didn’t go through the correct process when removing her at the airport and later deporting her. Now, Assistant US Attorney Mark Sauter has apologized to her.
Per AP, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Sauter said during a Tuesday hearing, “On behalf of the government, we want to sincerely apologize,” adding that the employee understands “he made a mistake.
Sauter added that the removal was the result of “an inadvertent mistake by one individual, not a willful act of violating a court order.”
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns said she was the victim of a “tragic” bureaucratic mistake.
“It might not be anybody’s fault, but she was the victim of it,” Stearns said. He added that Any Lucia Lopez Belloza could reenter the country after securing a student visa.
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