Court Orders Student's Return After Wrongful Deportation

A college freshman wrongfully deported to Honduras will get a second chance at her American dream, thanks to a federal judge who said the government must make things right.

US District Judge Richard Stearns ordered the Trump administration on Tuesday to take steps within two weeks to return Any Lucia Lopez Belloza to the United States. The 19-year-old Babson College student was deported in November despite a court order that should have protected her.

Lopez Belloza's nightmare began on November 20 at Boston's Logan airport. She was heading home to Texas to surprise her family for Thanksgiving when immigration agents arrested her.

What happened next violated her basic rights and a court order. Despite her lawyers obtaining a 72-hour protection order, Lopez Belloza spent two nights in a cramped holding room with 17 other women. Then she was put on a deportation flight to Honduras, the country she left when she was eight years old.

"I was numb the whole plane ride," Lopez Belloza told The Associated Press. "I just kept questioning myself. Why is it happening to me?"

For the past two and a half months, she's been stuck in Honduras while her lawyers fought to bring her home. The government apologized in court, admitting a mistake was made. But officials initially refused to bring her back, arguing she had an old removal order from 2016.

Judge Stearns didn't buy the excuses. He framed his order as an opportunity for redemption through accountability.

The Bright Side

The judge's ruling represents more than one student's second chance. His order acknowledges that even in complicated immigration cases, the rule of law matters and courts have the power to correct wrongs.

"Wisdom counsels that redemption may be found by acknowledging and fixing our own errors," Stearns wrote in his decision. He's giving officials a clear path forward while warning he could hold the government in contempt if they don't follow through.

Lopez Belloza told reporters she had no knowledge of any deportation order against her. Her previous lawyer had assured her there was no removal order. She came to America as a child and worked hard enough to earn admission to Babson College.

The case mirrors other wrongful deportations this term, including that of Salvadoran father Kilmar Abrego Garcia. His case eventually reached the Supreme Court, which also ordered his return.

Now Lopez Belloza waits in Honduras, hoping the government will follow the judge's order and bring her back to finish her education and reunite with her family in America.