Nate Raymond
BOSTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) – The Trump administration planned to fly a deported Honduran college student back to the United States on Friday after a judge ordered her return, but she refused to board the flight after U.S. authorities said she might be detained and deported again.
Lucia Lopez Belloza, a freshman at Babson College in Massachusetts, was detained at Boston’s Logan International Airport as she traveled to Texas to spend Thanksgiving with her family and was later deported to the country she left when she was 8 years old.
The 20-year-old flew to Honduras on November 22 despite a Massachusetts judge’s order the day before barring her from being deported or transferred out of the state for 72 hours. A government lawyer later apologized for what he called a “mistake.”
Boston-based U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns ordered President Donald Trump’s administration on Feb. 13 to correct mistakes it made during its immigration crackdown by Friday and facilitate her return.
Lopez Bellosa told reporters she was excited to learn on Thursday that the government had arranged a flight to take her home.
“After a few hours, that excitement turned into a nightmare,” Lopez Bellosa said.
She said a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official misled her Thursday by repeatedly telling her that if she boarded the plane, she would be released upon arrival in the United States.
“I believed him for a moment,” she said. “I imagined stepping off the plane and finally being free.”
However, in court filings Thursday afternoon, the government said it planned to deport her again upon her arrival. The agency said it would have the authority to detain her if she took an ICE flight from Honduras to Texas because she was already subject to a final deportation order that was issued when she was 11 years old.
“I’m not going to beat around the bush,” Lopez Bellosa said during a virtual press conference. “I’m angry. I’m sad.”
Lopez-Belosa’s attorney, Todd Pomerleau, accused the government of “sleight of hand” and vowed to continue her legal fight.
“I’m not going to stop until she comes back, but she’s not coming back in handcuffs,” he said.
In a court filing late Friday, the government said Lopez-Belosa failed to show up for a prearranged meeting to assist with her departure and did not board a scheduled flight after previously agreeing to travel to Honduras’ San Pedro Sula airport.
A spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in a statement that the flights arranged by ICE were intended to restore “the status quo.” The office has been fielding legal challenges from Lopez-Belosa.
“The status quo prior to her deportation was that she was subject to a final deportation order and, as the government has argued throughout this case, ICE has the statutory authority to detain individuals to effectuate such deportation,” spokesperson Christina Sterling said.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Ethan Smith)