Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, a 19-year-old college student at Babson College, was detained by ICE while trying to make a surprise trip to see her family in Austin. Within about 48 hours of her arrest, the agency deported her to Honduras.
Courtesy of Todd Pomerleau
A federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. government to bring back an Austin college student who was deported to Honduras despite a court order blocking her removal, according to a court document obtained by the American-Statesman.
Any Lucía López Belloza, 20, had planned to surprise her Austin-based parents for Thanksgiving with a trip home from her first semester at Babson College. Instead, federal immigration agents arrested her at Boston’s Logan International Airport and deported her to Honduras, her native country, two days later. Her family has insisted they were unaware of any deportation order against her.
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López Belloza’s arrest attracted national attention, exemplifying the far-reaching scope of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. At the time of her deportation, López Belloza had lived in the United States for more than a decade and was attending university on a scholarship.
In his Friday order, the presiding U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns suggested that the federal government should fix what he wrote was an erroneous action. He gave the government 14 days to facilitate her return.
“Wisdom counsels that redemption may be found by acknowledging and fixing our own errors,” Stearns wrote. “In this unfortunate case, the government commendably admits that it did wrong. Now it is time for the government to make amends.”
Stearns’ words referenced an apology government lawyers made at a court hearing last month as the judge considered holding the government in contempt for not complying with the initial court order pausing López Belloza’s deportation. After arresting López Belloza, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement quickly transferred her from Massachusetts to Texas, a move the agency later argued stripped the judge of jurisdiction.
Yet, the Department of Homeland Security has insisted it did nothing wrong, pointing to López Belloza’s outstanding removal order.
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“There was no ‘mistake,’” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. It did not respond to Statesman questions seeking to clarify its position.
Stearns previously asked the Trump administration to consider options for legally returning her. On Feb. 6, the government declined to bring her back, suggesting instead that López Belloza apply for a new nonimmigrant student visa from abroad, according to a court document obtained by the Statesman.
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, an Austin Democrat, celebrated the news Friday, calling the judge’s order a necessary step.
“The Trump Administration must follow this judge’s order and let Any López Belloza return to her family and her school,” Casar said. “Any attempt to further prosecute, jail, or deport an innocent American college student is unacceptable.”
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On Friday evening, López Belloza’s attorney, Todd Pomerleau, said that though he believes the federal government is willing to break court orders, he is hopeful that Friday’s order will mark the beginning of his client’s return.
He said López Belloza could gain permanent legal status to remain in the United States through several means, including a new visa application process her mother has begun.
“Fourteen days from now she should be on U.S. soil, if not sooner,” Pomerleau said. “There’s an end in sight.”
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