Federal prosecutor apologizes after Babson student deported to Honduras

A federal prosecutor apologized this week after Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported Any Lucia López Belloza, a freshman at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., to Honduras, saying an ICE officer made a “mistake.” Ms. López was detained at Boston Logan International Airport on Nov.

20 and flown to Honduras two days later, despite a court order signed on Nov. 21 barring her removal while her case was pending. The U.S. attorney’s office said ICE had “full authority to arrest and detain” her based on a removal order entered in 2017 and that her immigration status “remains unchanged.” At a Boston hearing, prosecutors acknowledged an ICE employee failed to activate a system that alerts officers to cases subject to judicial review; federal prosecutor Mark Sauter apologized, saying the employee understands “he made a mistake” and that the violation was “an inadvertent mistake by one individual,” according to The Associated Press.

Ms. López, 19, has lived in the United States since she was 8 and had a scholarship to study at Babson. She said she wants to return to see her parents in Texas, continue her business degree and “continue my dream.” Her lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, has asked a judge to order the government to produce a “detailed remedial action plan” to facilitate her return, saying an apology without a remedy “does nothing for her.” It remains unclear whether the government will allow Ms.

López to return.

Key Topics

Politics, Lopez Belloza, Babson College, Ice, Boston Logan, Honduras