The Trump administration has apologised in court for what it described as a 'mistake' in the deportation of Any Lucía López Belloza, a 19-year-old student at Babson College in Massachusetts. She was detained at Boston's airport on 20 November while attempting to fly to Texas to surprise her family for Thanksgiving, and was flown to Honduras two days later, despite an emergency court order issued on 21 November requiring the government to keep her in the US for at least 72 hours for legal proceedings.
In a federal court hearing in Boston on Tuesday, government lawyers acknowledged the violation of the judge's order. Assistant US Attorney Mark Sauter said an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation officer mistakenly believed the order no longer applied and failed to activate an alert system to halt her removal. 'On behalf of the government, we want to sincerely apologise,' Sauter said, adding that the error was 'inadvertent' and not a wilful act.
The government argued, however, that the court lacks jurisdiction because the legal action was filed after López Belloza had been taken to Texas en route out of the US. It maintained that her deportation was lawful, citing an immigration judge's removal order from 2016 and a dismissed appeal in 2017. Her lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, countered that the deportation violated the court order and deprived her of due process, and has asked the judge to order the government to devise a plan for her return.
López Belloza, whose family emigrated from Honduras in 2014, is currently staying with grandparents in Honduras and studying remotely. In a telephone interview with the Associated Press, she described her despair during the flight, thinking her dreams of earning a business degree and opening a tailoring shop with her father were over. 'In the United States, dreams are possible,' she said, adding that she remains hopeful. Federal Judge Richard Stearns called the incident a 'tragic' bureaucratic mistake but appeared to rule out holding the government in contempt, noting the violation did not seem intentional.
