US apologises after deporting Babson student despite court order

The Trump administration apologised in federal court in Boston for a “mistake” after the deportation of Any Lucía López Belloza, a 19-year-old freshman at Babson College who was detained at the city’s airport on 20 November and flown to Honduras two days later. Government lawyers told the judge they violated an emergency order issued on 21 November that directed officials to keep López Belloza in Massachusetts or elsewhere in the United States for at least 72 hours for legal processes, and said an ICE deportation officer mistakenly believed the order no longer applied and failed to activate a system that alerts other officers.

In a 2 January declaration the officer admitted he did not notify ICE’s enforcement office in Port Isabel, Texas, and said he believed the judge’s order did not apply once López Belloza was no longer in the state. The government nonetheless argued the court lacks jurisdiction because her lawyers filed their action several hours after she was taken to Texas, and said her removal was lawful because an immigration judge ordered removal in 2016 and the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed an appeal in 2017.

Judge Richard Stearns said he appreciated the government acknowledging the error, calling it a “tragic” bureaucratic mistake, but questioned whether he has jurisdiction and appeared to rule out holding the government in contempt.

Key Topics

Politics, Babson College, Ice, Honduras, Judge Richard Stearns, Port Isabel