BOSTON — The case of a Babson College student deported to Honduras has been dismissed by a federal judge in Boston.
The judge said the court does not have jurisdiction over the case.
Attorney Todd Pomerleau, who represents now 20-year-old Any Lucia Lopez Balloza, said he’s already filed an appeal.
“If you can’t figure out where your client is, it makes sense to sue where they were arrested, where their lawyer is, where their witnesses are and that’s exactly what we did here,” Pomerleau said.
Pomerleau said he filed suit in Boston after Babson College student, Lopez Balloza, was detained at Logan Airport while visiting family in November.
He said Boston was the only court that made sense to file the case because his team didn’t know where Lopez Balloza was after being detained by ICE.
“ICE wouldn’t tell us where she was, they wouldn’t answer the phone, they wouldn’t respond to any of our requests to find out where she was,” Pomerleau explained.
Federal authorities have acknowledged Lopez Balloza was wrongfully deported to Honduras and offered her a flight back to the United States last month.
However, she declined over fears she would be detained again.
“If she came back, it would have jeopardized her future as far as her school,” Pomerleau said. “She probably would have flunked out of her freshman year because she would be in a jail cell.”
“I mean we’re not going to have her traumatized anymore, enough is enough.”
According to court documents, Judge Richard Stearns said when Lopez Balloza didn’t get on the plane, she waived the court’s only remaining basis for jurisdiction.
Now, Pomerleau said he’s added a corporate law firm of 1,300 lawyers to his team to help fight for his client and others in similar situations.
“We really have great litigation opportunity now for Any and many others who are facing these dire circumstances given the way the government is behaving these days,” Pomerleau said.
Boston 25 News has reached out to ICE for comment and has not yet heard back.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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