Trump admin apologizes in court for ‘mistaken’ deportation of college student in US

Noman Sabit: The Trump administration has issued an apology in court for a "mistake" concerning the deportation of a Massachusetts college student, Any Lucia Lopez Belloza. However, officials controversially argued that this error should not ultimately affect her case.

Lopez Belloza, a 19-year-old freshman at Babson College, was detained at Boston’s airport on November 20 and subsequently flown to Honduras two days later. Her removal occurred despite an emergency court order issued on November 21, which explicitly directed the government to keep her within Massachusetts or elsewhere in the United States for a minimum of 72 hours. Lopez Belloza, whose family emigrated from Honduras to the U.S. in 2014, is currently residing with her grandparents and continuing her studies remotely. She is not under detention and recently visited an aunt in El Salvador.

Her case marks the latest in a series of deportations carried out in defiance of judicial rulings. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was similarly deported to El Salvador despite a court order that should have prevented it; the Trump administration initially resisted his return but eventually complied following intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court. Last June, a Guatemalan man identified as O.C.G. was also repatriated to the U.S. after a judge determined his removal from Mexico likely "lacked any semblance of due process." At a federal court hearing Tuesday in Boston, the government argued the court lacks jurisdiction because lawyers for Lopez Belloza filed their action several hours after she arrived in Texas while en route out of the country. But the government also acknowledged it violated the judge’s order. In court filings and in open court, government lawyers said an Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officer mistakenly believed the order no longer applied because Lopez Belloza had already left Massachusetts. The officer failed to activate a system that alerts other ICE officers that a case is subject to judicial review and that removal should be halted.

“On behalf of the government, we want to sincerely apologize,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Sauter told the judge, saying the employee understands “he made a mistake.” The violation, Sauter added, was “an inadvertent mistake by one individual, not a willful act of violating a court order.”

In a declaration filed with the court Jan. 2, the ICE officer also admitted he did not notify ICE’s enforcement office in Port Isabel, Texas, that the removal mission needed to be canceled. He said he believed the judge’s order did not apply once Lopez Belloza was no longer in the state. The government maintains her deportation was lawful because an immigration judge ordered the removal of Lopez Belloza and her mother in 2016, and the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed their appeal in 2017. Prosecutors said she could have pursued additional appeals or sought a stay of removal.

Her lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, countered that she was deported in clear violation of the Nov. 21 order and said the government’s actions deprived her of due process. “I was hoping the government would show some leniency and bring her back,” he said. “They violated a court order.”

U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns said he appreciated the government acknowledging the error, calling it a “tragic” bureaucratic mistake. But appeared to rule out holding the government in contempt, noting the violation did not appear intentional. He also questioned whether he has jurisdiction over the case, appearing to side with the government in concluding the court order had been filed several hours after she had been sent to Texas.

“It might not be anybody’s fault, but she was the victim of it,” Stearns said, adding at one point that Lopez Belloza could explore applying for a student visa.

Pomerleau said one possible resolution would be allowing Lopez Belloza to return to finish her studies while he works to reopen the underlying removal order.

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BP/SM