BOSTON — A college student deported to Honduras while traveling for Thanksgiving in November must be returned to the United States within two weeks, a federal judge in Boston ruled Friday.
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns issued an order that required the return of 19-year-old Babson College freshman Any Lucia Lopez Belloza by the end of February.
Stearns said he had hoped the Trump administration would come up with a solution after it acknowledged mistakenly deporting Lopez Belloza. Having failed to do that, Stearns said, he was compelled to act. He said it was up to the courts to determine her rights and the legality of her removal.
“This is not an issue for the Executive to prejudge and arrogate to itself, whatever stance it may choose to take in litigating the removal issue before a court of law,” Stearns wrote.
Belloza's attorney, Todd Pomerleau, welcomed the ruling.
“We are pleased that the Court has ordered Any’s immediate return," he said in a statement. “She’s a remarkable, resilient young woman deserving of this outcome. We are thankful for the outpouring of support from those who have fought for Any’s Dream.”
Asked about the decision, the Department of Homeland Security e-mailed a statement saying Lopez Belloza received “full due process” and a final order of removal. The federal agency said she entered the U.S. in 2014 and that the removal order was issued by an immigration judge the following year.
The government has said she missed multiple opportunities to appeal. But Lopez Belloza said her previous attorney told her there had been no removal order.
Pomerleau said previously that the government’s response “spills a lot of ink on the difficulty of a student visa, but it fails to address the numerous simple solutions available to itself to rectify its ‘mistaken’ deportation.” Pomerleau could not be reached for comment late Friday.
Lopez Belloza, who has no criminal history, was detained at Boston's airport Nov. 20 as she prepared to fly home to Texas for the holiday. She was deported two days later.
She has been staying with her grandparents in her native Honduras, a country she had last been to more than a decade ago.
Babson has offered her support to continue her studies remotely, as she pursues a business degree.
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Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
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