A US judge has dismissed the case of a college student who was deported to Honduras due to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer's mistake. Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, a 20-year-old freshman at Babson College in Massachusetts, was detained at Boston's Logan International Airport in November while travelling to Texas for Thanksgiving. She was subsequently deported to Honduras.
Lopez Belloza had come to the US from Honduras at age eight. A final removal order was issued when she was 11, a fact she says she was unaware of. After her detention, a judicial order was issued barring her deportation for 72 hours, but she was flown to Honduras the next day despite this. A government lawyer later apologised for the ICE officer's failure to alert others about the order.
In February, Judge Richard Stearns ordered the administration to facilitate her return. The administration arranged an ICE flight from Honduras to Texas, but indicated that ICE would seek to deport her again upon arrival. Lopez Belloza declined to board the flight, citing the 'nightmare' situation.
Judge Stearns ruled on Friday that her decision not to board the flight meant the court lost its only remaining basis for jurisdiction. He noted that had she boarded, the judicial order barring swift deportation would have remained in effect, allowing her to challenge her detention in Texas.
