A Babson College student, deported to Honduras despite a federal court order, will remain there for now. Her attorney claims the federal government’s plan to bring her back to the United States was a trap that would have resulted in her being detained again.
Any Lucia Lopez Belloza is at the center of a high-profile immigration case after federal authorities acknowledged she was wrongly deported, despite a court order allowing her to stay in the United States.
“I was excited when I heard the news there was a flight that would take me back home—back to my community…back to the life that I have built,” Lopez Belloza said on Friday.
But she says everything changed quickly.
“Hours later, that excitement turned into a nightmare,” she said.
25 Investigates has followed Lopez Belloza’s case since November, when she was detained at Logan Airport while traveling to visit family for Thanksgiving.
Despite a federal court order requiring she remain in the country while her case played out, Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported her to Honduras anyway. Federal prosecutors later admitted in court that was a mistake.
Friday was the deadline the government to return Lopez Belloza to the United States. She says she received information about a possible flight on Thursday, but later court filings showed she would not be released and would instead be detained again.
“It showed that I was not going to be released at all, and I will be detained again. This is not just confusion. That it’s being lied about my own freedom,” Lopez Belloza said.
Her immigration attorney, advocates and members of Congress later came together for a Zoom meeting Friday afternoon, announcing Lopez Belloza would not get on any plane out of concern she would be detained again and potentially deported again upon landing in the U.S.
“She has a green card application pending right now for her and her parents that protects her under the law, and they won’t even let her come back in and go get her fingerprints taken and leave her the hell alone. Enough is enough,” said immigration attorney Todd Pomerleau.
Pomerleau says when ICE detained Lopez Belloza in November, she had no knowledge of a longstanding removal order issued when she was a child.
“It was an order for removal that an 11-year-old didn’t know about. She’s never had due process of law. She’s never had her day in court,” he said.
Lopez Belloza says she wants to return to the United States and continue building her life.
“I want to build my career. I want to support my family. I want to keep contributing to the country I call home. Instead, I’m being treated as I do not belong, as if my life does not matter,” she said.
The Department of Homeland Security provided the following statement to Boston 25 News:
“Complying with a court order, ICE attempted to facilitate Any Lopez-Belloza’s return back to the United States—but she failed to appear for her pre-arranged flight. ICE made multiple attempts to reach out to her with no response. For operational security purposes, ICE does not disclose future law enforcement operations.
“On November 20, CBP arrested Any Lopez-Belloza, an illegal alien from Honduras, as she was attempting to board a flight at Boston Logan International Airport. This illegal alien entered the country in 2014 and an immigration judge issued her a final order removal in 2015, over a decade ago. She was removed to Honduras. The court order to stop her removal was issued AFTER she was already removed. She received full due process including a final order of removal from a judge.”
— Department of Homeland Security spokesperson
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